Einstein's Dream
Clock Productions

Highly Recommended - Chicago Sun Times

Highly Recommended - Chicago Sun Times
"Imagine a scene of daily life in a typical European city (Bern, Switzerland, for example), circa 1905.


11/7/05 - 12/18/05

Thu-Sat 8p, Sun 3p


Highly Recommended - Chicago Sun Times "Imagine a scene of daily life in a typical European city (Bern, Switzerland, for example), circa 1905. A baker and a pharmacist go about their particular tasks. Street vendors pile their fruit into appealing displays. Lovers meet at appointed places or fail to meet. Picnics are packed. Sweepers wield their brooms. Cows stand in the fields beyond, contentedly engaged in their grass-munching and milk-producing. More crucially, a clock tower chimes. And a strangely distracted yet intensely focused patent clerk arrives at his office to ponder a multiplicity of dreams, all concerning the nature of time. His name just happens to be Albert Einstein. And out of his many fantasies one clarifying vision will emerge -- an insight that will alter man's perception of the very phenomenon that rules his life most powerfully. For all those who believe the theories of time and space outlined by Einstein in the first decades of the 20th century are far too complex to translate into theatrical terms, there is a contradictory proof to be offered. It comes in the form of "Einstein's Dreams," the poetic, balletic, whimsical and altogether rigorous 90-minute fantasia inspired by Alan Lightman's best-selling 1993 novel of the same name. First produced here in 2000, the show, adapted and directed with exceptional grace by Patrizia Acerra and Dawn Arnold, and produced by Clock Productions and the Moving Dock Theatre Co., has now been revived just in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of Einstein's crucial Special Theory of Relativity. Anyone in search of a richly animated and surprisingly emotional evocation of scientific theory is advised not to miss it. And fear not; it is highly accessible, even to those (like me) whose palms began to sweat on the way to physics class. In his book, Lightman -- a theoretical physicist and professor at MIT, who also happens to be a gifted writer -- found a lovely way to riff on Einstein's theories without depending on formulas. Instead, he looked at the possibilities of human action, he considered our perceptions of moving faster or slower or standing in place, he mused on the sensation of growing older, and he talked about how our sense of the passage of time can differ depending on our vantage point. He also reconnected us to the whole notion of time-telling by way of hours, days, seasons and more. A lover's emotional makeup (and his action or inaction) easily connects us to thermodynamic theories. A slew of other sensations regarding time and motion are embodied in stories that touch the heart and intellect. And in the wake of this show, you may just find yourself looking at your watch in dramatically new ways. Eight charming young actors comprise the cast. But what is especially impressive is the way in which they interact -- how their individual styles blend into the production's meticulously choreographed ensemble sequences, which can turn the chase after a bird or the momentum of pedestrian traffic on a busy street into something revelatory. Pearon Hampton is the appealing young Einstein, with Tony Bozzuto, Daniel Behrendt, Daniel Bakken, Helen Young, Christine Castro, Shannon Clausen and Jolene Turner as the citizens of Bern. David Denman's elegant arcaded set is quintessential "old Europe," with Carol Blanchard's Edwardian-style costumes, Tamora Wilson's lighting and David DeLaFuente's sound design all top-of-the-line in this most artful translation of science" - Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times 11/22/05

"In a world without memory, everyone carries giant books to record the details of their lives so they can be discovered fresh later on. Another world finds its residents stuck in time, each of them fixated on a moment in the past and unable to move on. The next world is blessed with two kinds of time, mechanical and body. Both have their adherents, each baffled by those who subscribe to the other kind of time, and yet both are true. The 1993 novel by MIT professor Lightman, from which Acerra and Arnold adapted their passable production, is made up of many such meditations on time, loosely structured around the young Albert Einstein preparing to publish his papers on special relativity. Yet Einstein is a minor character a point of access and Lightman's conjectures on the possible natures of time are whimsical fables about human nature and psychology. Acerra and Arnold's episodic adaptation enlists the citizens of 1905 Bern, Switzerland, to narrate their own portrayals of Lightman's tales, with Einstein occasionally watching with bemusement as the characters swirl around him. The whole thing doesn't accomplish much, but the show's young ensemble members are striking in their ability to create a cohesive whole from their competing styles and spirits. The most successful scenes, such as the dinner party in a world where time moves forward slowly and without event, come together with a metronomic precision" - Kris Vire, TimeOut Chicago 12/8/05

" Alan Lightman's precious, largely banal 1993 best seller makes for precious, largely banal theater. Snapshots of imagined worlds where time operates unconventionally--sometimes flowing back and forth, sometimes stopping, sometimes sticking here or there--are supposed to represent Einstein's fantasies while developing his special theory of relativity in 1905. But most are too pedestrian or logically inconsistent to have seduced the unconscious of a great genius. Directors Dawn Arnold and Patrizia L. Acerra remount their 2000 show, this time for Clock Productions and Moving Dock Theatre Company, and coax subtler, more convincing performances from the new cast, who are captivating when they do something besides simply act out the narrated text. Too often, though, the staging is as unimaginative as the book" - Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader 11/23/05

"Time does not behave itself in the manner in which we have become accustomed in Einstein’s Dreams, currently in production at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. Produced by Clock Productions in association with The Moving Dock Theatre Company, the performance consists of a series of scenes, set in the Swiss village of Bern in 1905, that bring to life the science-induced fever dreams of the young Albert Einstein, who lived in Bern while he worked on his now-famous theories of relativity. Co-directors and co-adapters Patrizia Acerra and Dawn Arnold have created Einstein’s Dreams in response to the best-selling 1993 novel of the same name, written by Alan Lightman. Those who are fascinated by discussions of the physics of time should not miss this show. Others may wish that Clock Productions had spent its rich resources of design, performance and directing skills on material that reached deeper into what makes humans tick. The possibilities of an existence in which time is not an absolute are intriguing. Perhaps time stops, every now and then, just for a thousandth of a second or so. No one would really notice, but the infinitesimal gap could be enough for the flicker of an idea to enter someone’s mind and change the course of the future. Perhaps time exists on three levels at once, as space does. Any given moment in a life would, then, play out to three different conclusions, simultaneously and in different realities.On an elegant, classically designed set of staircases and archways, an ensemble of eight young, attractive performers waltz through their paces as turn-of-the-last-century Swiss villagers, illustrating scenes in which time bends, stops and stutters. Courting, picnicking, and chatting on the street, the characters move with pristine precision through choreography that is as charmingly exact as a Swiss clock, and?unfortunately?not much more emotionally engaging. Acerra’s and Arnold’s work is most effective when it exploits strong visual or aural images to bring their "what-if"s into focus. In a scene where the villagers wake up each morning with no memory of their past lives, each performer carries a big book that glows with a light from within. As the narrator describes their lives to us, the characters are reading their own histories, punctuating the narrative with gentle exclamations of surprise and delight. An inexorable metronome dominates another scene, in which two couples at dinner move and speak in strict time, which gives a pleasing rhythm to their behavior while pointing out its utter vapidity.Moving and speaking with confident, though self-conscious, grace, the actors all appear to be in their early twenties?a homogeneity of age that unintentionally flattens out a dramatic exploration of time. Carol Blanchard created the charming period costumes in a monochromatic color scheme of ivories and grays that evokes a past that has faded away. Tamora Wilson pours lush lighting onto the terrific set by David Denman. David DeLaFuente created the sound score, which dovetails seamlessly with the text and movement.Reflections on time as our prison-keeper, our god, our constant companion or a mischievous trickster are interesting to consider but difficult to take personally. Like dried flowers that crumble when they?re touched, this beautiful, expertly realized production ultimately feels brittle and distant" - Kristin Gehring, Chicago Journal 11/05

Author
Alan Lightman

Director
Patrizia Acerra, Dawn Arnold

Performers
David Bakken, Daniel Behrendt, Tony Bozzuto, Christine Castro, Shannon Clausen, Pearon Hampton, Jolene Turner, Helen Young

Production
Tamora Wilson, Carol Blanchard, David Delafuentes, Aaron Beck, Jessica Pribble, Hilary Martin, David Denman

Tags: Theater, American, 2005