For the last 25 years or more, the plays of Bertolt Brecht appear to have largely fallen from favour on the English stage together, it should be said, with almost any play considered too overtly ‘political’. However, Howard Davies, who is no stranger to directing Brecht’s plays, thought that
the time was now ripe to re-introduce this great mid-twentieth century play . Audiences at the National last had an opportunity to see it when Michael Gambon played Galileo in John Dexter’s 1981 Olivier production.
There are several English translations available, but Davies chose one by the contemporary British playwright, David Hare, which he had previously seen and enjoyed in a 1994 production at the Almeida Theatre in London. The two men have worked together before and Hare was
present in rehearsals of
The Life of Galileo , subtly re-writing his text in response to the needs of the actors. The contribution of the actors to the whole process included robust debate about the relevance of the many ideas and issues contained in Brecht’s play (a fact that would have pleased him), and
during rehearsals there was a lot of discussion .
In the 1940s Charles Laughton was the first English-speaking actor to play the part of Galileo, and the American version of the play in which he starred (and which he helped Brecht to re-write) had its New York premiere in 1947 (see the
Introduction). Although the production was not a critical success, the writer and champion of Brecht’s work, Eric Bentley, wrote of Laughton’s performance that: “It is unlikely that anyone again will combine as he did every appearance of intellectual brilliance with every appearance of physical self-indulgence.” However, Howard Davies cast Simon Russell Beale as Galileo (
he seemed perfect for the role ) not least because he embodies precisely those qualities articulated by Bentley.
In the play the authorities represented by the Church and the Pope hold to unshakeable biblical beliefs: to them truth is not relative, but unambiguous and concrete. Such certainties are seen in our own times either in the form of Christian or Islamic fundamentalism. The play’s engagement with the opposing ideologies that confront the world today found the audience listening intently through the 3 hours and 15 minutes performance. That invitation to think and to listen was something Howard Davies
found hugely satisfying .
Any director considering staging a play by Brecht knows that his work trails behind it a body of theoretical writing outlining in great, and occasionally contradictory detail, how Brecht wanted his plays to be staged. Howard Davies' response to the question of theory can be explored in Playing Brecht (theory and practice).
