It mightn’t strike you as the first place to head for a theatrical experience, but one of the grand exhibition rooms of the Natural History Museum is currently hosting an elaborate production of The Wider Earth, telling the story of the father of the natural sciences, Charles Darwin. With such dense subject matter, such a production feels as though it’s one of those you should see as opposed to one you feel you want to see. None of us can cop to knowing as much as we should about the life of the man who revolutionised most of our world view, but there is no shame in knowing or not knowing when sitting back in your chair, and enjoying the story of how a young man’s curiosity ignited a scientific revolution.
The story begins with Charles returning from his great voyage around the world, ready to share his ‘story’ with the girl he promised to marry before setting off. We are then cast back to a time when Charles was done with his undergraduate study and facing a fork in the road where he has to chose either to follow the well-trodden path that has been set out for him, or veer off road and freefall into his intrigue with the natural sciences. Luckily for us he chooses the latter, and the rest is history. Though a world wide voyage of discovery does not scream theatre since the sheer epic scale of this story seems to buckle the imagination, there is a real admirable effort to compress and compound in this telling of the story, whilst retaining its humanity.
As it was the European premier of the piece, there was no better setting than that of the Natural History Museum at which to see it. Toeing the line between educating and engaging, there was a real wonderment to the production, from the stylistic animation that formed the play’s backdrop, to the War Horse style puppetry that brought the subequatorial animals to life on stage. The engineering of these animals did occasionally prove cumbersome, with puppeteers drawing the eye more than the puppet.
The success of this production lies with the conviction of his cast. As a young Darwin, Bradley Foster expresses genuine excitement at the prospect of his discoveries and his reverence is one which rings true. Set against a score that sets the production alight, an evening of theatre we initially felt that we should go see, was in actuality one we feel everyone should go and see, not just because it does good work in enlightening its audience about a man whose name often precedes his reputation, but because it’s an evening of enthralling theatre.
The Wider Earth is at the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, Kensington SW7 5BD until the 30th of December. To find out more and to get your hands on tickets visit NHM.ac.uk.
