After 18 years at the helm of the Auckland Theatre Company as artistic director, Colin McColl is stepping down at the end of 2021. It's a fact that is hard to ignore as you settle in for The Life of Galileo, his 61st and penultimate show for the ATC that feels like a swansong event – both to his tenure in charge and to the era he represents.
Galileo – an English translation by David Hare of Bertolt Brecht's 1943 work – is a pertinent choice. Over the course of several decades, Brecht's play tracks Galileo (played by Michael Hurst) as he discovers Jupiter's moons, and begins to push the theory that the sun, not Earth, is at the centre of the universe, directly in conflict with the Vatican's teachings and beliefs.
The themes around science versus faith, the responsibility scientists face, and fighting for truth all resonate powerfully after a year of Covid misinformation, and it's a testimony to Brecht's script that his story – set 400 years ago – is able to fit so easily into a 21st century environment.
It's a sprawling, epic play and you can see why McColl – probably one of the few directors who could handle something of this size – wanted to stage it. After several small scale productions, Galileo is easily the biggest production the ATC has staged for quite some time – with a 18-strong cast, and set designer Sean Boyle's imposing concrete arches and walls that dominate the stage and draw your eye as soon as you enter the theatre.