NT : What's On : Productions : The Life of Galileo

The Life of Galileo

by Bertolt Brecht
in a version by David Hare

Part of the Travelex £10 Season, with two thirds of the seats at £10 for every performance.

For the last hundred years it is as if mankind itself has been poised. Mankind has been waiting, stuck away in his corner. And now the moment is here. At last we are able to say: 'just because something is so, that does not mean it will remain so for ever…' Everything is in motion again!

Galileo's astonishing proof that the earth moves around the sun shatters a belief held sacred for two thousand years. Considered an enemy of humanity, he's threatened with torture and faced with a terrible choice: integrity versus intellectual sell-out.

Writing on the brink of World War Two, Bertolt Brecht offers one of the greatest plays ever written about social responsibility and the conflict between reason and faith, in a powerful version by David Hare.

And now the age of science has truly begun. It is
born at this moment. Think, if he had recanted!

Audio described performances
Friday 4 August at 7.30pm and Saturday 5 August at 2pm

Captioned performance
Saturday 2 September at 7.30pm

Cast credits:

Galileo Galilei : Simon Russell Beale

Andrea Sarti, as a boy : Ryan Watson

Andrea Sarti, older : Bryan Dick

Virginia, Galileo’s daughter : Elisabeth Dermot Walsh

Signora Sarti : Julia Ford

The Little Monk, Fulganzio : Zubin Varla

Federzoni, the lens grinder : Dermot Kerrigan

Sagredo, Galileo’s friend : Duncan Bell

Ludovico Marsili : Bertie Carvel

The Chancellor / Official (sc 10) : Tim McMullan

Cosimo De Medici, as a boy : Jamie Manton

Cosimo De Medici, older/ First Monk/ First Clerk/ Guarding Monk : Tristan Beint

Chamberlain/ Very Old Cardinal/ Vanni : Ian Barritt

Philosopher/ Clavius/ The Rector : Simon Merrells

Mathematician/ Astronomer : Christopher Gilling

Second Monk/ Second Clerk : Amit Shah

The Cardinal Inquisitor : Oliver Ford Davies

Cardinal Barberini, later Pope : Andrew Woodall

Cardinal Bellarmin/ Footman : Sam Spruell

Ballad-Singer/ Guard/ Peasant : Marcus Cunningham

1st Girl/ Ballad-Singer's Wife : Sarah Annis

2nd Girl : Natalie Best

3rd Girl : Lucy Vandi

Production credits:

Director: Howard Davies

Designer: Bunny Christie

Lighting Designer: Mark Henderson

Choreographer: Stuart Hopps

Music: Paddy Cunneen

Fight Director: Terry King

Sound Designer: Paul Groothuis

Company Voice Work: Patsy Rodenburg

Staff Director: Nathan Curry

Production Manager: Laurence Holderness

Stage Manager: Trish Montemuro

Deputy Stage Manager: Fiona Bardsley

Assistant Stage Manager: Valerie Fox

Assistant Stage Manager: Andrew Speed

Costume Supervisor: Janet Bench

Publicist: Lucinda Morrison

Production Photographer: Catherine Ashmore

photo (Simon Russell Beale) by Clare Park

The Life of Galileo finished on: 31 October 2006