Science without enjoyment is only ruin of the soul. Galileo could have been a tragic hero. A dramatic figure. The symbol as a martyr of reason in the face of religious obscurantism. But, at the foot of the pyre, Galileo preferred not to die with his ideas. He loved her so much life to it. The «messenger of the stars» was also men from the sky. It is the finesse of the biopic theatre of Bertolt Brecht, who, sublime resonance, written during his exile Danish, fleeing nazi Germany, before his piece is consumed in the autodafés of 1939.
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Enter the directory of the French with Antoine Vitez, Life of Galileo is released on Room Richelieu in 1990. Thirty years later, it is another director-general who puts it back on the table. To return to the stage after Romeo and Juliet and Peer Gynt of Ibsen where he had already made Hervé Pierre his first role, Éric Ruf nothing was denied. Additions of paintings of the sacred cinquecento define the spaces. The carved ceiling of the Salle Richelieu is the bottom in a shower of stars. The costumes by Christian Lacroix takes the time while insisting on the clergy all-powerful (including a Pope lit that dazzles the room or his cardinals straight out of wonderland). It is very beautiful, but. A small grain of madness perhaps missing the show, if effective and applied that it comes to blame Brecht not to have taken more liberties with the Story.
You keep at this the torch of science ! Use with caution, it becomes the fire by which we would all be destroyed. «
Hervé Pierre is Galileo Galilei, therefore. A clever good-natured (is that an oxymoron?) that plagiarizes the astronomical telescope the Dutch to ensure an annuity is suitable. He loves the money and good cheer. But her bourgeois comfort sit uncomfortably with his defence, frantic of Copernicus vs. Aristotle (which a certain reading was the bargain of the Church) ; he who stands against these egocentric Universe that the Sun revolves around the Earth, and not the reverse. In the role, the company is wonderful end-to-end, as well as an idealist ardent in aède broken but happy at the end of his life. It is a strength of the show: to provide a true ellipse for the return of the intermission, to a late delightfully intimate. They applauded as that of heavyweights such as Guillaume Gallienne (Pope ambiguous) and Thierry Hancisse (worrying Inquisitor) do not have more importance than the young shoots of the house, John Knight and Élise Lhomeau (the servant and the daughter of the scientist, which are very present).
Only concern: the text resonates-does he still today? Science and ignorance, the subject does not change. Brecht, who worked on the text until his death, was very concerned, in its latest versions of the use of the atomic bomb. Éric Ruf, to him, evokes the contradiction between the Internet and intox complotistes. Galileo, already, was that the scientific inventions are not there to alleviate human suffering. He said: «You keep this up the torch of science! Use with caution, it becomes the fire by which we would all be destroyed.» In other words: science without conscience is only ruin of the soul.
● «The Life of Galileo», Comédie-Française, 1, place Colette (Ier). Tel.: 0 825 10 16 80. Schedule: 20 h 30. Until 21 jul. 2019. Seats: 11 to 43 €.BOOK >
