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Into the Antiworld
Drams 1 and a half
Venue George Square Theatre
Address George Square
Reviewer Daniel Winterstein
Into the Antiworld is a physical theatre piece with an unusual subject: the discovery of anti-matter by physicist Paul Dirac in the 1920s. It both delights and disappoints. Musically and visually, it is great, but it lacks the courage to properly tackle its subject matter. Anyone hoping for insight or understanding into either the physics or the mind of Paul Dirac will go unsatisfied. Instead we get a series of images inspired by the idea of anti-matter, with a minute drop of science history.
The tone is often ethereal (floating thoughts, Dirac kneeling before the cosmos) but the pace is quite lively, and there are some emotionally rich pieces. An electron and a positron dance a dance of restrained passion which manages to be sensual without the dancers ever touching. Opposites are a recurring theme with shadow and light used to great effect. The set is elegant but interesting. Giant cloth sheets create a changeable space in which the performers move. The music, created by The Boulouris Quintet, is appropriately strange and wonderful. They play tangos in an original style that fuses jazz and classical. All in all, it is enchanting, but not enlightening.
© Daniel Winterstein, 25th August 2002.
© Daniel Winterstein 1998-2008
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