STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK
PHOTOS BY KIRSTEN SHULTZ
Often, it’s easy enough to figure out where a storyline is headed.
That’s not the case with “Heisenberg,” which opens Tuesday, Aug. 28, at The Liberty Theatre in Hailey.
“With other plays, you have an inkling of where they’re going or where the characters want to go. With this one you never know,” said Director Denise Simone, a founding member of Company of Fools. “The audience is part of the unfolding, and this demands being present in the moment. The audience has to stay with it, be active in following the story.”
“And,” she added: “Be prepared that what happens next will take you completely by surprise.”
“Heisenberg” revolves around the chance meeting between a 75-year-old London butcher and a 42-year-old American receptionist in a London train station.
Georgie plants a kiss on the butcher’s neck thinking he’s someone else, and things take off from there.
Both are lonely, stuck in the past. Alex was jilted by his fiancée more than 50 years before. And Georgie is now estranged from her 19-year-old son.
“It’s a love story between two people who are profoundly alone in the world,” said Simone. “They’ve lived most of their lives as outsiders and they’re unlikely to come together but they do. It’s funny, sharp and witty.”
“It’s also amazing—the playwright Simon Stephens makes every line count,” added Christopher Curry, who plays the butcher.
“Heisenberg” evokes Nobel Prize winner and German physicist’s Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which purports that a simple act has a force capable of affecting behavior in ways that are impossible to predict.
“It offers us the idea that you can watch something closely to try to figure out where it’s going or to try to figure out how quickly it’s going, but you can’t watch it all at the same time,” said Hanna Cheek, who portrays Georgie.
But at the heart of the play it’s about very human relationships—the uncertainty in those relationships and the ways we influence one another.
It’s about how Georgie and the butcher come to understand one another and about the courage they summon to go on this journey with one another.
Simon Stephens, a British playwright, won a 2015 Tony Award for Best New Play for his adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel, “The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-Time.
That play was the subject of a recent play reading on behalf of NAMI-WRV at the Limelight Hotel. And it will be staged by Boise Contemporary Theater Oct. 17 through Nov. 10 for those who want to explore more of Stephens’ writing.
Stephens is said to have written “Heisenberg” in the blink of an eye. And he’s given the actors no hiding places. There are no set changes, no elaborate costume changes.
“As soon as the play takes off, you’re in it until the end,” said Cheek. “It’s very exciting and really challenging.”
Cheek, who starred in Company of Fool’s “Grounded” and “Other Desert Cities,” is from New York City. Christopher Curry, a newcomer to Company of Fools, is from Los Angeles.
The play will be performed in an intimate configuration with seating for 70 people on stage.
Amanda Clegg Lyon designed the lighting and Russell Simone Wilson, the sound. Maria Gerhardt is behind the costumes; K.O. Ogilvie is managing the stage, and Ann Price is the dialect coach.
IF YOU GO:
What: “Heisenberg”
When: Tuesdays through Sundays, Aug. 28-Sept. 9. The show will begin at 8 p.m. each night.
Where: The Liberty Theatre in Hailey
Tickets: $35 for members of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and $40 for nonmembers. It’s $35 for seniors 62 and older and $15 for students with ID. It’s $35 for members of a group of eight or more, available at www.sunvalleycenter.org or by phone at 208-578-9122.
Special Deals: Tuesday, Aug. 28, is Pay What You Feel Night. Wednesday, Aug. 29, is Second Night 23 with $23 tickets for adults. Friday, Aug. 31, is Educator Night with two $15 tickets available to currently employed educators and school administrators. Ten seats will be sold for $10 each for each show.
Date Night: Saturday, Sept. 1, is Date Night with a pre-show happy half-hour with discounted wine, beer and bubbly; deals at local partner restaurants and a chance to win prizes.
Post-Show Chat Back and Backstage Tour: Sunday, Sept. 2, immediately following the show.