When is it wrong to tell the truth? As in many of Bertolt Brecht's plays, the author uses historical analogies to address the social and political problems of his own time. In the case of Galileo, Brecht saw a similarity between the physicist's submitting to the Church authorities' demand for recantation with the situation in W.W.II Germany in which the scientists were turning over their knowledge to aid the Nazi war effort. When the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima and the Manhattan Project came to light, Brecht felt that American scientists had also gone too far by allowing their work to be turned over to and controlled by politicians. He felt they had betrayed a moral responsibility to society "to ease the suffering of man rather than add to it."
While the relationship between a 17th Century physicist, who may have delayed the advancement of science by his actions, and 20th Century scientists, who advanced science while developing weapons of mass destruction may seem a bit strained, the issue of resisting powers of repression and social destruction are as contemporary as today's headlines. What would have happened if Galileo had stood up to the authorities of his time like Harry Wu stood up to the Chinese authorities? Would the results have been as positive? Both men had to deal with a clear threat of possible torture if they resisted. Today it is still dangerous to report observations which do not fall into the category of being politically correct. Is there any difference in the 17th Century Church's rejection of observations contrary to their belief that the sun revolves around the earth with the rejection of any observation contrary to the belief that all life evolved from simple organisms to more complex organisms? Our perceptions are still colored by what is essentially dogma, and true open mindedness is hard to come by.
Ironically, although Galileo is considered a masterpiece and one of the most relevant plays of the 20th Century, it is seldom produced in this country. One of the reasons lies in the fact that the introduction to each scene and all of scene nine (the carnival scene) is sung, but Samuel French which handles the production rights for all American productions does not handle the music. The music is out of print and only available with a German text. Add to these problems a cast of over 50 characters and you can see how Galileo requires a labor of love. We hope your evening will be a truly illuminating one.