The Physicists (Kirkup)
by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, James Kirkup

Name: The Physicists (Kirkup)
Brand: Friedrich Dürrenmatt
SKU: 9780573013409
Rating: 4.27 (105 reviews)

The Physicists (Kirkup) Book Cover — The Physicists (Kirkup) Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

Role(s) for Black Actor(s)Interior Set

What readers are saying

Readers find 'The Physicists' to be a clever and engaging play that combines humor with serious themes about the role of science in society. Many appreciate Friedrich Dürrenmatt's ability to weave satire and tension into a short yet impactful narrative. Despite a few criticisms regarding complexity or pacing, the overall consensus is that the play is enjoyable and thought-provoking.

Clever and satirical writingEngaging and humorousThought-provoking themesSurprising plot twistsSome find it a bit complex

Synopsis

The scene is a madhouse and the focus is on three inmates who are nuclear physicists.

One thinks he is Newton and another, Einstein.

The third has visitations from Solomon.

They appear to be nice, likeable lunatics, but nothing is as simple as it seems.

Are they really mad?

Or are they playing some murderous game with the world as the stake?

Who is earnest and who is the spy?

Gradually we learn that each has been led down the path to moral destruction, past the signposts of truth, the purity of science, and personal responsibility.

The asylum to which their paths have led them seems much saner than the mad world they've left behind.

Press Reviews

"Brooding over all is the head of the sanatorium, a psychiatrist, who has to enact the most frightening scene at the close of the play...Mixes bizarre comedy and satire, sometimes extremely amusing, with a science fiction approach."
— The Stage, London