“A storytelling piece. About forgotten Hungarian Physicist Leo Szilard”
Excerpt from press release:
Leo Szilard…
First to think of the Atomic Bomb.
For five years the chain reaction was in his head alone.
He was the driving force towards the Manhattan Project.
He blackmailed the White House into secrecy, thus keeping key facts from Berlin
And he then did the most to stop the bomb being used.
So he was ruthlessly pushed out of Physics by an anti-Semitic General.
Who’s decades’ long loathing is the chief reason this amazing and very funny man is almost forgotten.
A Fringe show unlike any other.
A step into the unknown.
A big story of huge historical reach.
A real deal with a devil?
And a comedy, which is true, and ends in Hiroshima?
How do you sell a show about a man no-one has ever heard of?
How Fringey is the Fringe? Not as Fringey as everyone think it is. But how Fringey? Lets find out.
Refugee, genius, joker, sole survivor of his regiment, eccentric, name-dropper, Martian, Einsteinian sidekick, eventual spouse.
Pompous, self-indulgent, indefatigable. Wouldn’t give up. Or shut up.
Instigator of charities, Washington Lobbies, Manhattan Projects, nuclear secrecy.
Jem Rolls harnesses the narrative power. Of a story. Where a man. A very unusual man. Has in his head. For years. Only his head. The scariest idea. Any human being has ever had.
Told in five narrative slices. Taking us through the key years of 33-45. With many extraneous details to convey the range, humour and times of this extraordinary man.
Extensively researched. In Budapest, Oxford and more.
This show makes a number of seemingly original and contentious statements. Like “The Three Great Lies of General Groves”. Or “Szilard as Number One Nazi Bomb Stopper”. Etc.
Yet these are in the sources, chiefly the two best books: Richard Rhodes, The Making Of The Atomic Bomb; Bill Lanouette, Genius In The Shadows.
Only no-one has put them together and bigged them up in this fashion.
Showtimes:
Wednesday, July 1, 2015 – 10:30pm
Friday, July 3, 2015 – 3:00pm
Monday, July 6, 2015 – 8:00pm
Tuesday, July 7, 2015 – 3:00pm
Thursday, July 9, 2015 – 7:30pm
Friday, July 10, 2015 – 8:45pm
Sunday, July 12, 2015 – 12:00pm
Venue: Tarragon Theatre Mainspace
Tickets for all Fringe productions are $10, $12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone (416-966-1062, business hours only), in-person from the festival box office located in the parking lot behind Honest Ed’s, (481 Bloor West), or — if any remain — from the venue box office (cash-only), starting one hour before showtime.
The festival offers a range of money-saving passes for committed Fringers; see website for details.
Be advised that Fringe shows always start exactly on time, and latecomers are never admitted.
Photo provided by company.
