Ian McDiarmid is to reprise the title role in Roxana Silbert’s production of Brecht’s A Life of Galileo at Birmingham REP and the theatre is also to present a play about Saturday morning television.
Translated by playwright Mark Ravenhill, A Life of Galileo is arguably Brecht’s greatest play and charts the renaissance scientist’s extraordinary fight with the Catholic church over his assertion that the earth orbits the sun.
The play opened at the Royal Shakespeare Company in February 2013. The revival is part of the REP’s Epic Encounters, a series of theatre, events, debates and hands-on activities inspired by Brecht’s plays and poems.
Ian McDiarmid is perhaps best known for his role as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and Emperor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious) in Star Wars.
His recent theatre credits include Maximus in Emperor and Galilean for the National Theatre in 2011, the title role in John Gabriel Borkman for the Donmar Warehouse and the father in Rupert Goold’s Six Characters in Search of an Author for Chichester Festival Theatre.
The cast also includes Matthew Aubrey (Andrea), Paul Hamilton (Federzoni), Chris Lew Kum Hoi (Cosimo de Medici), Katherine Manners (Virginia), Elizabeth Marsh (mathematician), Patrick Romer (Cardinal Inquisitor), Jo Servi (Barberini), Sadie Shimmin (Sarti), Paul Westwood (Ludovico) and Cath Whitefield (Gaffone).
Birmingham REP’s artistic director Roxana Silbert directs. The production is designed by Tom Scutt, music and sound are by Nick Powell, movement is by Struan Leslie and lighting by Rick Fisher. It is presented in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Theatre Royal Bath.
A Life of Galileo runs at the REP from Friday 28 February until Saturday 8 March.
Meanwhile, Birmingham REP and Told By An Idiot are to stage a homage to Saturday morning television, Never Try This At Home.
Written by regular Told by an Idiot collaborator Carl Grose, Never Try This At Home is inspired by shows such as Tiswas and Going Live.
It reunites the remaining survivors of infamous fictional TV show Shushi and throws the spotlight on its presenters, who are soon to realise the insidious side to fame.
This new black comedy “recreates the anarchic chaos of cult children’s TV” and is a “hilarious, violent and disturbing exposé of the world of TV and celebrity”.
Director Paul Hunter’s own experience of appearing on Tiswas was the seed of an idea for the show, as the REP’s artistic director Roxana Silbert explains.
“I’ve always loved the work of Told by an Idiot and I’ve worked with Paul Hunter on numerous occasions.
“Given that he was born and bred in Birmingham, it seemed natural to approach him about making a show for the REP—the theatre which he visited as a child and made him want to become an actor.
“He recalled appearing on Tiswas when he was eight. The anarchy of the programme and his experience of being put in a cage and pelted with ice seemed like a starting point for a show.”
The cast includes Petra Massey (co-artistic director of Spymonkey), Niall Ashdown, Okorie Chuckwu, Stephen Harper, Dudley Rees and Ged Simmons.
It premières in the Studio at the REP from Thursday 27 February until Saturday 15 March before touring to Sheffield, Edinburgh and Soho Theatre, London.