Discovering Things With ‘Galileo’

Caught midway between a costume drama and a philosophical screed, Roger Smart’s staging of “The Life of Galileo” at the Open Fist is sweeping but largely unrealized.

Written in exile in 1938, Brecht’s play, seen here in Robert Brenton’s 1980 translation, was originally intended to expose the evils of totalitarianism. Today, Brecht’s depiction of scientific empiricism at odds with religious absolutism seems even more compelling, a prescient peek at the dangers of mindless fanaticism. Ironically, Smart’s muffled attack could use more passionate absolutism. As it is, his stringent but tame direction blunts the visceral thrust of Brecht’s talky, timely masterwork.

Further diffusing the proceedings is Adrian Sparks’ merely competent performance in the title role. Brecht’s Galileo is a coarse sensualist, as dedicated a trencherman as he is a physicist. Obviously classically trained, the towering and handsome Sparks loses his character in Shakespearean cadences, never quite tapping into Galileo’s essential slobbishness.

In spite of Brecht’s egalitarian sentiments, his drama contains a troubling misogyny. Galileo’s lame-brained daughter Virginia (Bonnie Leigh), treated with contempt by her father throughout, eventually emerges as an exponent of blind religious ignorance.

Smart smartly attempts to rectify the implicit sexism with a little gender-bending, most successfully in the case of Galileo’s young male protege, Andrea, portrayed with deadpan panache by Anastasia Basil. Smart’s set, which includes a looming suspended moon, is evocatively lit by Dan Reed. Rae Robison’s costumes, a mix of contemporary and period attire, neatly sum up the director’s metaphoric intent.

BE THERE

“The Life of Galileo,” Open Fist Theatre, 1625 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 16. $15. (323) 882-6912. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes.