Albert Einstein: Relatively Speaking.
Part Two of John Hinton’s Scientrilogy. The Arch. John Hinton, Tagram Theatre andHolden Streeet Theatres. Adelaide Fringe. March 7-18 2018
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| John Hinton and Jo Eagle in JAlbert: Relatively Speaking |
After seeing That Daring Girl the night before and
John Hinton’s second part of his Scientrilogy today, I am more than ever
convinced that actors have a crucial role to play in schools by providing
entertaining and high calibre theatre performances that inspire2, inform and
excite students. Actor, John Hinton in Part two of his Scientrilogy takes on the
role of Albert Einstein to introduce audiences, young and old alike, to the
qualities of his theories of special and general relativity, the effect of
gravity on time and motion and the definition of his famous equation E=MC2.
With boundless energy and playful
excitement, Hinton selects a girl and a boy from the audience to demonstrate
his theories of time, motion and the speed of light. Assisted at the keyboard
by Jo Eagle in the various roles of his second wife, Elsa, his first wife
Maleva and his mother Paulina, Hinton keeps his audience entertained with song,
demonstration and audience participation. As the show unfolds e learn about Einstein’s
contribution to a theoretical understanding of the laws of physics. The show
moves along at a frenetic pace, and for this reviewer, it seemed as though we
were moving at the speed of light while Time was standing still. For the
science students in the audience, Hinton’s theatrical ingenuity in exposing the
nature of Einstein’s genius illuminated their classroom dryness and brought the
complexities of Einstein’s theories to life. Through song, demonstration,
audience participation and puppetry, Hinton opened a window of realization. Hip hop and a repetitive E=MC2
hand routine reinforced the understanding and knowledge for the audience,
although this reviewer found the performance a little too frenetic to
consolidate the knowledge. But then, I was no longer in a school. For the
students present Hinton’s performance was received with appreciative
laughter,often at the expense of their volunteer fellow students or teachers
What resonated most powerfully
with me was Hinton’s shift in tempo as he set aside his props of instruction,
such as a rope to suggest gravity, a vacuum cleaner to represent a vacuum and a
sheet to indicate the curvature of space around a Black Hole. It is impossible
for any performance about Einstein to avoid the great moral dilemma of the
theory’s impact on the construction of the Atom Bomb. His struggle is palpable
and his rationalization that someone else would have created it with more evil
intent offers small comfort. It is the potential dilemma that any scientist
might face, and one that the students in the audience should debate,
Fast forward in a shower of
talcum powder to 1955, the year of Einstein’s death and a conversation with his
preserved brain. Hinton not only sings, dances and performs with enthusiastic
elan. He also proves himself to be a deft hand puppeteer. With his dying breath
he reveals the true secret of his genius – hat it is not the brain that holds
the secret but the instinct to question why.
With the demise of theatre-in-education
teams across the country, it is refreshing to find an actor who not only
relishes the discovery of material to present to school students and general
public audiences but performs it with such a sense of mission and fun. I am not
able to see his shows about Charles Darwin and Marie Curie, but judging by the
response to Relatively Speaking, John
Hinton’s Scientrilogy is another hit Fringe production at Holden Street
Theatres