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Albert Einstein: Relativitively Speaking
Published on Monday, 15 April 2013
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The Nightingale (venue website)
Theatre
5, 12, 19, 26 May, 5:00pm-6:00pm
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Einstein’s Theory of Relativity? Explained in an hour-long play? An hour-long play with songs? It might sound a trifle implausible. But if anyone’s up to such an ambitious challenge, it can only be John Hinton – whose similarly tuneful canter through Darwinism, The Origin Of Species, won five-star plaudits and a coveted Stage Must-See award on its debut back in 2009.

A second opinion

By Richard Stamp on 22 May 2013

What a difference a couple of weeks can make.  Dropping in on Relativitively Speaking later in its run, I found a faster-paced piece, which did come close to achieving the energy familiar from Hinton’s earlier shows.  I enjoyed it, and I think the audience around me enjoyed it too.

My first love is drama, not comedy, so the crashing mood change when Albert is confronted with the reality of the A-bomb worked surprisingly well for me.  But I did feel that, after crashing, it dragged along the bottom; to me, the real problem is that show took a long time to finish.

And that points to a fundamental issue, which I think lies at the heart of both my reaction and Mathilda’s.  I’m not quite sure who this show is aimed at: the upbeat opening sets it up for all the family, but there’s little for the kids in its lengthy, dark conclusion.

I’d also be tempted to drop some of the science, especially if that made room for another song.  Because it’s the songs that make Hinton’s shows great.  But, overall, I think this show’s developing in the right direction, and I’ll be interested so see what it’s like by the time it arrives in Edinburgh.

If The Origin is any guide, we can expect both serious science and some very silly songs, befitting a play which claims to appeal to fans of both Brian Cox and Monty Python.  The insights into Einstein’s life are likely to be irreverent ones, and the puns are almost certain to be awful.  But we’re also expecting some entertaining, accessible demonstrations of the theories themselves – and on previous form, the audience will be very much part of the action.

This equation wouldn’t balance without Hinton himself, who’s consistently impressed our reviewers with his beguiling and energetic charm.  At his last show in Brighton, we cracked out five stars for a “diverse, engaging” performance, with songs which stuck in the brain “like he’d fired them there with a glue gun”.  He is, in short, the nuttiest of professors… who somehow captures the essence of complex subjects with a flurry of humour and song.  If you’ve got a sense of humour and an interest in the universe, then you should find plenty here to relate to.
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