Theatre and physics departments collaborate for staged reading of ‘The Life of Galileo’

The play, written by Brecht as a playwright-in-exile from Nazi Germany in 1938, covers Galileo Galilei's efforts to explore the heliocentric model of our Solar System against the backdrop of political challenges in his time.

In this reading, actors will perform without staging or props. Theatre professor and director Gordon Reinhart compares it to "a book on tape or a radio drama."

As one of the first natural philosophers to point the recently invented telescope towards the heavens, Galileo observed Jupiter's four biggest moons and the phases of Venus. His work provided visual evidence for the heliocentric model introduced by Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus nearly a century earlier. That model, which we now know the Solar System conforms to, has all the planets orbiting the Sun.

"Those discoveries were really the harbinger of modern science," said Brian Jackson, professor of physics and director of the First Friday Astronomy program. "Isaac Newton, who was the inheritor of Galileo's mantle, used those observations to work out his laws of motion and gravity."

In the course of his life, Galileo clashed with other philosophers and religious figures who were committed to the geocentric model of the Solar System, which placed the Earth at the center of the universe. Those people, including Pope Urban VIII, feature as characters in the play.

"I think Brecht put his finger on something human; Galileo, the man within the scientist, caught in a storm of dramatic circumstances between truth and faith." Reinhart said.

The staged reading will consist of two parts: an hour of theatre performance followed by a Q&A segment with Jackson and Reinhart about the science and history featured in the play. For Reinhart and Jackson, this collaboration was a natural fit. "I don't see hard walls between science and the arts," Jackson said.

After the reading, weather permitting, Jackson and Boise State astronomy students will invite the audience outside for guided stargazing. If there are no clouds and it is not too cold, audience members will be able to see the four Galilean moons around Jupiter.

This event is currently sold out. Those interested in attending can email the Department of Theatre, Film and Creative Writing to add their name to the waitlist: [email protected].

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