Greenside @ Infirmary Street
Aug 14-19, 21-26 (10:15)

Caeli Anarrant Gloriam Dei

Written and Directed by Nic Young. Performed by Tim Hardy.

Tim Hardy is a marvel in this period piece, The Trials of Galileo. The Edinburgh Fringe is filled with raw storytelling from alternative artists and thus one sees a great many performances from untrained actors. It is most refreshing to enjoy the wonders of high-level craft from a classically trained actor with vast professional experience.

Hardy’s skills of diction and characterisation culminate in a presence on the stage that would not be out of place beside the likes of Burton, McKellen and O’Toole. He is the best of the classical acting tradition, with a mellifluous tone and musical, poetic delivery. His pacing is wonderfully smooth yet dynamic, a delight to the ear; his characterisation authentic and honest. I felt like I was living vicariously through the character, experiencing the journey of the great Galileo being indicted for the hideous crime (sarc.) of practising science in a theocracy.

The unfairness and violent subjugation of free-thinking in the 17th Century was well-established by Nic Young’s script. We saw the anguish in Galileo, so powerfully portrayed, but the connection to contemporary assaults on rationality, were not made. This was probably for the best, to let the individual audience draw their own connections to life today – which is what I did afterwards.

The religious zealotry of the Catholic archdiocese in the year the trials took place, 1633, can be compared to any number of ideological movements and tribes in contemporary society. Is this most similar to the way the extreme left and right cancels and de-platforms their opponents? Conspiracy theorists often evoke Galileo when spruiking their claim of victimisation and being excluded from participating in debate.  The play offers much food for thought as we get an inside perspective to what it must be like to have a vast world of complexity and expertise reduced to superstitious over-simplifications.

Galileo has to surrender, crestfallen in the realisation there is no hope when authorities are fixed to an ideologically-based mindset. The play is not anti-faith either, as Galileo maintains his piety while convincingly arguing that the majesty of God’s realm is perfectly maintained whether the Sun revolves around the Earth or the Sun. Young carefully parses key lines of scripture to give the audience a lot to ponder about in terms of how one exactly chooses to interpret language and where ideology trumps rationality – very relevant to today’s problems and the ‘war on truth’.

This show is a must-see given the relevance of this them. I was deeply immersed in a beautifully crafted imaginary world. I think there is scope for expansion, more clearly telegraphing time jumps and increasing movement and dramatisation in the direction. Understandably, that would risk creating a trade-off with historical accuracy as well as butting up against the limitations of the one-person format, however I believe artistic licence and adventurousness must be to the extreme side of the spectrum – to squeeze more drama from a show that has someone as capable as Hardy is at the helm.

This piece is presented in the morning at the fringe ’23 and I would encourage every true believer in theatre to make this their first stop on a day undoubtedly filled with variety. If not simply to bask in the mastery of Hardy, a bright light in the firmament; a tragedian of the highest calibre.

Stuart Bruce