Gravity
Reviews

A play written by a physics teacher, about a physics teacher has immediate negative connotations for a student who has never held a particular passion for science. However, the themes explored in this play cross the boundaries of all subjects and certainly cross the boundaries of student/teacher.

Nigel Hastings as ‘David’ delivers an emotive performance as a disillusioned physics teacher suffering from depression. His frustration at a school system that has little support for teachers and even less for students with a real passion for science but a lack of social skills creates sympathy for teachers and students alike from every member of the audience.

The script and overall acting style is naturalistic, providing an insight into both teacher’s and student’s lives in a modern secondary school. This allows for fast paced dialogue between believable and often highly likeable characters. Ashley Hunter as ‘Kyle’ plays a loveable character, provoking the character to truly sympathise with a child who has suffered and gets caught up despite himself with a ‘bad crowd’. This displays once again the weaknesses of the modern school system.

The music is modern, often found in clubs and parties, this makes the play more accessible for youth and contrasts that which is normally used in theatre and at times contrasts the tone of the piece.

Gravity is at times uncomfortable to watch, as audiences can see themselves in the characters and can often question even when they know the characters actions are wrong ‘Would I have done the same thing?’ Through the power of science we see the weakness of the human condition and simply think, along with the characters ‘If only we could go back and change things…’