Anatomy of the social context

The Anatomist
Upstairs at the Gatehouse
David Weinberg

CONFLICTING tensions within the worlds of science, religion and art interplay in a bloody tapestry of power and the history of human development in this striking new play by Tony Ramsay.
The Anatomist forces us to consider what it truly means to be mortal and all too human in a brutal world.
Like the best playwrights, Ramsay offers no rigid or identifiable viewpoint but instead dramatises as many viewpoints as possible.
Director Ivan Cutting draws out the play’s themes on the foundations of modern human anatomy with contemporary relevance for our own current social and political context.
Andreas Vesalius’s determination to explore the hidden world beneath our skin leads to the publication of an extraordinary document called De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body) in 1543. Tom Marshall as the enigmatic scientist carves through centuries of dogma with resonance and astonishing poise.
Vesalius is an explorer at heart but the dark side of his soul often casts him at odds with the living breathing human beings he must live with.
Nadia Morgan as the young illustrator and artist Jan Stephan van Calcar is able to penetrate his outer shell and engender a mutual vision through their groundbreaking work together.
Veronica Hempsey is a gem and contributes an earthy irony and humour as the Woman.
As in life tragic and comic elements go hand in hand within the play’s framework of Laurel and Hardy style hijinks and deeper reflections on our temporal state of being. This rounded production is enhanced by its design elements and a vivid musical arrangement in the background.
Until July 22

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