Event

GALILEO by Bertolt Brecht presented by the Burbage Theatre Co

Brecht was writing as much about the present as the past. Galileo's endorsement of Copernican theories of the cosmos is
subversive, precisely because it questions the existing religious and social order You could hardly find a more topical
play than this. Guardian UK

Galileo examines the tension between the pursuit of knowledge and the power of official ideology, and is
widely considered one of Brechts masterworks. In the wake of Copernicuss discovery that the sun is the
center of our solar system, Galileo Galilei perceives about him a time of scientific upheaval and general
improvement, providing a vision for generations to come grounded in the joyful and fevered pursuit of
knowledge. But his hopes of a general enlightenment are cut short when his heretical discoveries about the
solar system bring him to the attention of the Inquisition.

Eloquent about a world in which notions of truth are contentious. Standard UK

A character who still speaks powerfully to us of the wonders and the dangers of science, the high price of pragmatism,
and the lonely beauty of the universe. Telegraph

Brecht offers us a complex portrait of a brilliant intellect equally embattled by the forces of authoritarian repression and
his own odd blend of arrogance and insecurity. Chicago Tribune

Brechts discourse is much more than Science vs Religion. Galileo is about more than a striking resemblance between
the post truth political world we occupy and the inquisition, though it should be enough to peak our concern, said
Burbage Theatre Co Artistic Director Jeff Church, Galileo is an acknowledgement that unstoppable progress and
unshakeable belief have been at odds from time immemorial, demonstrating an inconsistency in our very nature,
collectively as a species and in the character of each individual. A contradiction of the will to, at once, pursue knowledge and to deny it absolutely.