What: Kiwi acting legend Michael Hurst leads a large ensemble in Auckland Theatre Company’s production of The Life of Galileo.
In 17th century Europe, the famous and visionary mathematician, physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei found himself in hot water with the Catholic Church for supporting heliocentrism: the idea that the Earth revolves around the sun, not, as was the belief at the time, the other way around. He also proposed that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, as espoused by the church. Cue major drama.
Galileo was forced by the church to keep quiet, retract his heresies and was placed under house arrest. It wasn’t until a century later that the church finally backed down on its opposition to his theory.
Considered by many to be Bertolt Brecht’s greatest play, The Life of Galileo is more relevant than ever as we face a scourge of science denialism amid a pandemic and a climate crisis.
Where: ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland
When: 24 June – 10 July
For more information and to buy tickets, visit atc.co.nz