Description
Philosophical questions of no small consequence are addressed in this contemplative and visually and aesthetically stunning play. Is science part of God's plan? Or does the power of science lie in its ability to explain away God's existence over time? Scientific inquiry and discovery, on the one hand, and faith and devotion on the other collide in the life and work of Galileo. The setting is Florence and Rome from 1630 to 1635. Galileo has moved near his daughters and strives to support their convent as best he can. Sister Arcangela has developed a mystic relationship to the Holy Scripture, while Sister Celeste avidly follows her father's scientific discoveries and helps him in any way she can by reading and recopying his manuscripts as his eyesight begins to fail him. More is actually known about Celeste, through the survival of over 120 of her letters to her father, an endearing correspondence cited throughout the play. The audience learns of the family's early life through a series of flashbacks. Galileo must remind his daughters that it has become too dangerous to "sing the truth" as they did when they were children. The scene changes as the two sisters are transformed into Inquisitors interrogating Galileo and his convictions. Finally, the action moves back to a time when Galileo's daughters joyfully share the "truth" with their father as they first look at the heavens through one of his telescopic inventions.
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