BAFTA winner Joe Wright’s production of Brecht’s masterwork Life of Galileo will be accompanied by an original score composed by Tom Rowlands, founding member of the English electronic music duo The Chemical Brothers.
Extra performances have also been added to the production, with the run extending through to Saturday July 1.
Joe and Tom first collaborated on the 2011 feature film, Hanna. Of the announcement, Tom commented, “When Joe approached me with the idea I was excited at the thought of doing something totally new. I was also happy to rekindle my creative collaboration with Joe as he always makes something inspiring and stimulating.”
The play sees Galileo use the newly invented telescope to make ground-breaking discoveries about the planets that set him on a collision course with authority. In challenging the idea that the earth is the centre of the universe, he is challenging the all-powerful Roman Catholic Church. Brecht’s timeless play about the conflict between science and dogma is more topical today than ever before.
Performed in-the-round, Life Of Galileo will transform Young Vic’s Main House with design by Lizzie Clachan and projections by 59 Productions. The full cast is: Ayesha Antoine, Jason Barnett, Brendan Cowell, Billy Howle, Paul Hunter, Joshua James, Bettrys Jones, Alex Murdoch, Brian Pettifer, Anjana Vasan and Sarah Wright.
Tom Rowlands is perhaps best known as one half of The Chemical Brothers, an electronic music duo formed with Ed Simons in 1992 and described by NME as “one of the most important groups in dance history”. Some of their biggest hit singles include: Hey Boy Hey Girl, Galvanize, Setting Sun, Go and Block Rockin’ Beats. To date, they have released eight studio albums, won four Grammy Awards, had six UK Number One albums and sold-out some of the world’s largest arenas.
Life Of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, translated by John Willett and directed by Joe Wright, runs 6 May – 1 July 2017 in the Young Vic’s Main House.
You can book your tickets through the venue’s website.