Run Time: Approximately 85 minutes with no intermission. Adult content suitable for children 17+
Lights up on a stage dressed only with benches, music, Georgie Burns and Alex Priest in mid-conservation. Well Georgie mostly rambling and Alex seated looking shocked, terrified and confused.
‘Heisenberg’ is a one-act play written by Simon Stephens, directed by Tracy Brigden and performed by Robin Abramson and Anthony Heald, at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre.
This is a love story that does not know it yet! To call this a simple boy meets girl story is an understatement. Based in different parts of London two extremely different people cross paths.
Georgie a middle-aged eccentric truth binder will not stop popping up in Alex’s life. Alex an over retirement aged Irish man who owns and runs a butcher shop, is annoyed yet intrigued with Georgie. Mostly because his life is so ordinary and predictable he could live it with his eyes closed.
The stage is set as “Theatre in the round” and the only items used are five or so benches a few props and of course music by Zach Moore and lighting by Brain Sidney Bembridge.
The most important feature in this play are the words combined with the fast pace nature of the show. Any other elements would get in the way of the flow and slow it down or even worse distract the audience from the Characters. Robin Abramson is wonderful as Georgie Burns, one cannot help but to fall in love with her and feel sorry for her at the same time. Abramson makes you believe every word Burns is saying even if it is out of this world…or a lie.
For those reasons alone, Alex Priest did not stand a chance against Georgie’s charm. Anthony Heald held his own on the stage next to Abramson. With all of Georgie’s colorful characteristics, Heald brought a calm balance to the stage. Alex was the anchor needed to keep the play grounded, with a bit of his own humor thrown here and there as well.
This play definitely had twisted and turns I was not expecting. I am sure I was not the only one in the audience who felt this way. With a quick look around the theatre, it was clear we had no idea what would happen next. Over all this was very much so a play about life and even a look at death and the space between the two. Alex Priest (Anthony Heald) has the biggest arch.
At the start of the play we see a man reserved, boring and refusing to feel anything, as the show unfolds we notice that really he is afraid to feel again which is way he cannot control his spontaneous moments of crying. He shut down so much so, crying is the only way he can release the built up emotion inside his body.
On the other side of this there is Georgie who is so big and so grand it is quite odd to see her calm and sad. As the show unfolds for Georgie Burns (Robin Abramson), we see this is only an act to protect her from the pain she is going through.
‘Heisenberg’ is a story that not only makes you laugh and keeps you guessing, it also leaves you thinking about life, relationships and what it means to care for someone…in a nontraditional way.
For the sake of not revealing too much of the show, I recommend seeing the slice of life that is ‘Heisenberg’ for yourself.
‘Heisenberg’ will be at The Pittsburgh Public Theatre until April 8, 2018
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