Howard Brenton’s play in regards to the final days of Athenian thinker and gadfly Socrates comes at a second when playwrights appear more and more to be searching for out the parallels between the traditional Greek world and our personal upset fashionable society.
That includes a convincingly otherworldly Socrates in Jonathan Hyde, it is a wealthy play of concepts, elegantly directed by Tom Littler, and following within the custom of Plato’s dialogues to present us some superb examples of the Socratic methodology.
There are question-and-answer discussions on meaty topics across the unexamined life, the conflict of previous and new orders and the best of democracy in precept, together with its failures in apply. Brenton’s script combines the traditional and fashionable so nicely that on a regular basis profanities sit subsequent to speak of slaves (ever so subtly ironised) and large philosophical concepts to create sparky, bathetic moments.
Socrates is condemned to loss of life by a jury for sacrilege and rationalism, basically, in his questioning of the gods. The folks, led by a younger upstart, have strains of intolerance, and cleave to “sure” values above Socrates’ questioning in clear, intelligent parallels to as we speak.
It's an accomplishment for a play whose motion is available in philosophical dialogue and by which dramatic speeches are solely ever reported, that it doesn't really feel static or sleepy. Isabella van Braeckel’s set is putting in its minimalism (just a few pillars, a wall frieze). William Reynolds’ lighting is beautiful; and sound designer Max Pappenheim, who can also be a classicist, writes an ideal mini-essay on historical Athenian society within the playtext, too.
What drama there may be alongside the concepts feels arresting, fiercely clever and filled with threat however not satisfyingly full – like scenes from a play moderately than a play itself. Though we imagine in Socrates as a thinker, we by no means fairly imagine in him as a person selecting loss of life on precept, over household, youngsters and life. He walks in direction of his finish, blithely philosophising, proper till the cup of hemlock touches his lips and even afterwards as he wavers between life and loss of life.
There may be, although, some very superb performing that brings the concepts to life and performs the comedian strains completely. Socrates’ fellow Athenian, Euthyphro, is performed by Robert Mountford as a pompous spiritual stickler. Doubling up because the “gaoler”, Mountford is so good in each roles that he close to sufficient upstages the lead.
There are additionally the ladies in Socrates’ life – the mistress, Aspasia (Sophie Ward) in a face-off with the spouse, Xanthippe (Hannah Morrish) – who're so fascinating you want for higher deal with them. Absolutely Aspasia, an influential thinker on this male-dominated area, deserves a play of her personal? Their combat for the love of the identical man is became a heated debate on household versus public life, which by no means completely convinces however is fascinating nonetheless.
At occasions, the trendy world, and its phrases, appear too clearly grafted on, even in Socrates’ titular “cancellation”: his is a loss of life sentence that doesn't quantity to the identical factor as social media “cancellation” in any respect (or was Jesus cancelled, too, and the likes of Galileo?). So too, the discuss of Socrates as a dinner-party-throwing elite determine and “the nice unwashed” who condemn him and who're clearly as we speak’s populists.
It's finally its dialogue on democratic rule that brings probably the most depth and complexity: Socrates finds himself interrogating his perception within the rightness of the bulk vote, and as questions across the historical Athenian democratic course of hold within the air, the unstated spectre of the Brexit referendum is there alongside them.
Cancelling Socrates is at Jermyn Road theatre, London, till 2 July.
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