James Karas
British
playwright Simon Stephens has woven a touching, humorous and fascinating play
based on a simple idea. Two people meet in a London railway station as a result
of a woman kissing a man. They seem to have nothing in common but we will find
out a great deal and want to know a lot more over the eighty or so minutes of
the play.
But we need to
deal with the title first – Heisenberg. The play has something
to do with the Uncertainty Principle which was formulated by Herr Heisenberg in
1926. If we saw Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen and are devotees of the Big
Bang Theory we are practically theoretical physicists. We (I am either
pregnant or preparing for my next job as a king) then metaphorically reach for
Wikipedia where Werner Heisenberg makes the Uncertainty Principle perfectly
clear:
David Schurmann and Carly Street. Photo Cylla von Tiedemann
It can be expressed in its simplest form as
follows: One can never know with perfect accuracy both of those two important
factors which determine the movement of one of the smallest particles—its
position and its velocity. It is impossible to determine accurately both the position and the
direction and speed of a particle at
the same instant.
Sadly,
therefore, we can never figure out exactly the location of a particle (whatever
that is) driving on the Don Valley Parkway, its speed or direction. If you are
stopped for speeding on the DVP just remind the officer of Hesienberg’s
Uncertainty Principle and demand that he shove the ticket up Highway 404.
Having a vague
idea about the Uncertainty Principle is of some interest and it does force you
to think about the play but it is not essential. Heisenberg is about two
people. Georgie (Carly Street) is a
forty-two year old woman from New Jersey who finds herself in London. Alex
(David Schurmann) is a seventy-five year old butcher in London and they are,
not surprisingly very different people.
Georgie is
attractive, impulsive, lively and talkative as she reveals herself and
draws Alex out. He is a reserved English gentleman, upstanding, sophisticated
and a lover of music. The idea that he may be an uncultured chopper of meat
disappears quickly.
In many ways
this is a play about a May-December courtship but Stephens weaves the story
delicately with some exquisite needlework. He avoids the obvious humour that
can be used to buttress a slender plot and maintains our attention. We are
interested in Georgie and Alex.
Carly Street
gives a fine performance as George. She is sexually attractive but also
intelligent, a bit mysterious in her approach of kissing a stranger on the back
of his neck and off the wall. She is the catalyst of the relationship.
Schurmann’s
performance gives us the subtle, elusive Alex who is taken aback and attracted
to this strange woman. A fine-tuned performance.
The play is done
on a square wooden platform with a rotating circle in the centre designed by
Teresa Przybylski. The moving circle provides a fine metaphor for the world and
the uncertainty, if you will, of where Georgie and Alex are at any given moment
as they perform their dance of search, discovery and romance.
The whole thing
is choreographed by director Matthew Jocelyn in his last season as Artistic and
General Director of Canadian Stage. His tenure has been ambitious with the
inevitable ups and downs but his vision of moving us into new theatrical
grounds has been unflinching. Only kudos for his production of Heisenberg.
As to his future whereabouts, just apply
the Uncertainty Principle.
______
Heisenberg by Simon
Stephens in a production by Canadian Stage runs from November 28 to December 17
2017 at the Berkeley Street Downstairs Theatre, 26
Berkeley Street, Toronto, Ont. www.canstage.com,
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