Last weekend, a few friends and I went to see the play The Physicists at the Alleyway Theatre.
None of us had ever heard of the play, or knew anything about the story. The only thing we knew, which was told to us from the man sitting to our left, was that it is kind of like a mix between One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dr. Strangelove.
What we got was exactly that. The play is a dark comedy about three inmates of an insane asylum who ponder the importance of modern technology and its implications on society. On the surface the play has an absurd, almost Monty Python-ish slapstick quality to it. But underneath its humorous guise is a story that questions the definition of madness, the thin line that separates genius from insanity, and makes you wonder if ignorance truly is bliss.
The story starts off with a murder. One of the inmates, who think himself to be Albert Einstein, has killed a nurse and police inspector Richard Voss attempts to understand the motives of the crime. We soon learn that this is the second murder in the last year, and that another inmate who thinks he is Issac Newton had also killed his nurse three months before.
Issac Newton is the seemly calm and collect madman with the big vocabulary which contrast perfectly with Albert Einstein who plays the tweaked out, high-strung screaming madman.
While the investigation of the murders plays out, the audience is introduced to Johann Wilhelm Mobius. Mobius is the perfect middle ground between the other two wanna-be physicists. Apart from the fact he sometimes believes he has been visited by the biblical King Solomon, Mobius is an intelligent and for the most part sane inmate.
As the play advances, we soon learn that the three inmates are not exactly who they appear to be. Without giving too much away, there is a major plot twist that transforms the ending into more of a spy story than a murder mystery.
The musical number that comes from out of nowhere was a personal highlight of mine. It's so over-the-top you can't help but be impressed and shocked at the same time. Also Mobius' three kids were down right hilarious. You can't help but keep your eyes on them during the horseplay/tomfoolery going on in the background.
It's always great when you see something that just strikes a cord. When you see something so thought-provoking you can't help but talk about it after words. Something that's beyond the pointless entertainment of summer blockbusters. Something that makes you think even if you're too busy laughing at it to realize. Something like The Physicists.
June 15 and 16 at 8 PM, Sunday June 17 at 2 PM $10. Alleyway Theatre 1 Curtain Up Alley, 14202, 852.2600.