Mar. 24, 2010 - Issue #753: Zion I

Revue

Physics 101

The little moments work best in The Science of Disconnection

Exposition is always a tricky balancing act: the necessary context it gives audiences can tangle the flow of a story with endless interjections into the past, or draw out scenes to a point where momentum just slips away. It causes some drag in The Science of Disconnection, a one-woman show firmly rooted in the real-life history of physicist Lise Meitner. When David Belke's script has her living in the moments—lecturing on the electron make-up of an atom, or nervous on a train from Berlin, trying to avoid SS eyes and suspicions—it’s a magnetic performance and very humanizing look at a woman criminally overshadowed by history and, frequently, her peers. But moments where she serves more as narrator to her own life, looking back with detatchment and pondering events already unfolded, the human tension dissipates.

That’s not to say David Belke’s script is a dulling science lecture. Far from it: he’s been careful to present Meitner as a flesh and blood figure, and does a lovely job of showcasing, in particular, the little human ticks she frequently lets slip—her geeked-up over-excitement of watching an Einstein lecture, the stone-faced, sombre panic of giving her first lecture of her own. As a whole it compiles a very lifelike image of a woman whose incredible contributions to physics were stolen by or credited to her male counterparts, but who pushed on undaunted.

Cathy Derkach is a compelling actress, and here pulls a charming character out of history’s forgotten corners and letting scientific passion bleed into every moment. Alone on stage, donning a simple prim dress, her Meitner is a shy, mousey physicist alive with warmth and intelligence, and a brain that’s always on the go, picking away at problems of physics with a sort of working-it-out-as-you-go vibrancy.

Darrin Hagen’s constant musical score, too, sets and maintains the mood right from the get go; the lights come up on him first, half-hidden behind an abstract Electron-layer backdrop, squeezing an accordion and releasing melancholy notes that capture the highs and lulls of her story. The play jumps back and forth in time, with skillfully controlled mood shifts by director John Hudson, and hums along at a decent pace for its 90 minute runtime.

It’s when Derkach is left to narrate Meitner's life, painting us details about the scene without ever truly entering into it, that makes The Science start to drag. That vibrancy of character doesn't translate well to looking at moments with an outsider’s detatchment, instead of reliving that history. Maybe removing herself from the scene makes sense for such an analytical thinker of a figure, but something gets lost when she's searching the recesses of her mind. Watching Lise Meitner's life unfold is fascinating; watching her tell us about it is less so. V

Until Sun, Apr 4 (7:30 pm)
The Science of Disconnection
Written by David Belke
Directed by John Hudson
Starring Cathy Derkach
Varscona Theatre (10329 - 83 Ave),
$10 – $25
 

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