When Swiss playwright, novelist and essayist Friedrich Dürrenmatt wrote this surreal comedy in 1961, nuclear war and consequent destruction seemed a very real threat. Half a century down the track, his absurdist humour seems somewhat dated, and one would hope that scientists are more wary of the horrors their research might unleash.
White doors proliferate in Robert Jones’ floor to ceiling design for the luxury sanatorium where nurses are being strangled and Sophie Thompson’s malign, humpbacked grotesque Dr von Zahnd has three special patients under her care. One (Justin Salinger) thinks he’s Newton, another (Paul Bhattacharjee) believes he’s Einstein, and the third, Möbius, really is a physicist – but he’s spent years labouring under the delusion that King Solomon is paying him regular visits.
Nothing is quite what it seems, however, and Jack Thorne’s lively version just manages to keep the momentum of the often Ortonesque comedy going as the real agenda of these privileged inmates is revealed. But it takes the appearance of John Heffernan’s excellent flesh and blood Möbius to anchor Josie Rourke’s production of this rather heavy-handed satire. Desperately sad, and sacrificing his own personal happiness for the greater good, he’s all too aware of both the academic thrill of unlocking the secrets of physics and the implications of scientific development untempered by a moral code.
Donmar to 21st July
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