Universal Arts Festival and Icarus Theatre Collective present
The Trials of Galileo by Nic Young
Starring Tim Hardy
New Town Theatre
6 – 30 August
16.45 (17.55)
After a successful tour of Malta, Spain, and America, RSC actor Tim Hardy returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with his highly acclaimed production The Trials of Galileo.
The Trials of Galileo focuses on the events surrounding Galileo’s trial for heresy in 1633.
“The Universe is a divine miracle Galileo, not a clockwork toy! ‘Proof’ denies faith, and without faith we are nothing."
In this reprimand by Pope Urban VIII is contained Galileo's tragedy - a mistaken belief that if he supplied the church with proof, he would enlighten the world while escaping persecution. Galileo understood the science better than any man alive, but never grasped the politics. Until it was too late.
What inspired this production: did you begin with an idea or a script or an object?
Tim Hardy: In the BBC television series Days That Shook the World I played Galileo for the Emmy-Award-winning writer/director, Nic Young. Out of the success of this project, Nic and I knew we had to create a stage production on the man, Galileo Galilei. And so, The Trials of Galileo was born.
Why bring your work to Edinburgh ?
The show has played extensively throughout America including New York, Philadelphia, and Notre Dame, as well as in Europe including Spain, the international science festival in Malta, and in London. With increased attention in the media on censorship, science v religion, etc the show’s relevance to a modern audience is clear. For this reason, I am bringing it to the Edinburgh Festival.
What can the audience expect to see and feel - or even think - of your production?
One critic has said it’s impossible to remember that you’re watching an actor and not the real man. Gary Taylor of New Oxford Shakespeare said "Passionate, intelligent, hilarious, chilling - in Tim Hardy's phenomenal performance, the knife fight between science and religion does not take place between men, but INSIDE one" and Three Weeks called it “As soul-breakingly bitter as it is heartbreakingly humorous.”
The Dramaturgy Questions
How would you explain the relevance - or otherwise - of dramaturgy within your work?
Not much; as Anthony Hopkins says, “I learn the lines and show up.” What this means in practice is that I play to the audience in front of me, with whom I have a two-way conversation. And as like most clichés it is true: every audience is different.
What particular traditions and influences would you acknowledge on your work - have any particular artists, or genres inspired you and do you see yourself within their tradition?
Like most of my generation, I was inspired by Olivier. More recently, I love the work of Sir Anthony Hopkins.
Do you have a particular process of making that you could describe - where it begins, how you develop it, and whether there is any collaboration in the process?
I like to learn the lines as early as possible, which then allows me to listen to the other actors, because true acting is reacting to what has just been said to you, not what you learned on another occasion.
What do you feel the role of the audience is, in terms of making the meaning of your work?
They inform it entirely. It is always a two-way conversation.
Actor Tim Hardy creates a suitably complex portrait of the scientist, now in advancing years: naive, impulsive, excitable, yet feisty, occasionally sardonic. The Scotsman
Born in Rome, Tim Hardy was educated at St. Paul’s School, London. Early on he played the title role in Comus by John Milton before Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh leading to him winning a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) with a scholarship.
Television credits include the title role in Galileo and Arthur Taylor in Oscar Wilde opposite Sir Michael Gambon for the BBC, Jesus in Son of Man, John Rampayne in The Trial of Sir John Rampayne opposite Sir Ian McKellen, The Doctor in The Wife of Bath opposite Julie Walters, David Manners in Eastenders, leading roles in Midsomer Murders, Rabbi in Casualty 1909, and Ross in Macbeth. Films credits include Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Duelist, Nothing but the Best, and Marat\Sade.
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