Cancelling Socrates

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Production photos by Steve Gregson

Set and Costume Design for New Writing | Jermyn Street Theatre

Directed by Tom Littler
Written by Howard Brenton
Lighting Design by William Reynolds
Sound Design by Max Pappenheim & Ali Taie

Cast: Jonathan Hyde, Robert Mountford, Hannah Morrish, Sophie Ward

‘Today, Socrates is revered as the founding father of Western philosophy. But in 399BC Athens, he was a pain in the neck. The plague is over, democracy is (just about) restored, and everyone would like to get
back to normal. How hard is it for one ageing firebrand to stop asking questions? It’s time to shut him up…’ 

Inspired by the heat of Greece, Grecian architecture and our modern museum-outlook in Grecian Spaces. Cancelling Socrates split locations strongly between the first and second halves. Initially in and around the markets of Athens, bright light and hot colours were key. This was then gradually reduced to transform the space into a deeply enclosed dark prison cell, with one last vestige of heat and colour remaining around Socrates himself.

The design concept loosely hinted at historical saturated colours have been gradually and systematically removed from how we now view Ancient Greece and regularly refer to a whitewashed view of history and artefacts. The pillar cracked, white freezes lining a museum-green wall and the hot orange floor reduced down to a small rectangle representing Socrates and the very little historical documentation we have of him.

Model and Development photos by Isabella Vn Braeckel, Set photos by Steve Gregson

“[…]it does not feel static or sleepy. Isabella van Braeckel’s set is striking in its minimalism (a few pillars, a wall frieze).”

Arifa Akbar, The Guardian

“Isabella Van Braeckel’s set uses little beyond a few pillars, a bench and a strip of searing blue to bring the city to life […] there is so much to ponder that, as his final words fade away, you want the whole thing to start again”

Clive Davies, The Times

“Isabella van Braeckel’s set features great columns and marble reliefs hanging overhead, while the flat spaces of floor and walls are picked out in bright, jarringly clashing hues evoking the Athenian environment – olive green, azure blue and a hot, dusty orange.”

David Fargnoli, The Stage

“The limited space available at the Jermyn Street Theatre is once again utilised to clever effect. In addition to the stylised Greek pillars and friezes, there are signs in both English and Greek available on stage for those patrons needing the toilets, and the sparse set actually gives a sense of spaciousness, which Littler and his cast use well.”

Dominica Plummer, The Spy in the Stalls

“Leading the fray is Jonathan Hyde’s magnetic Socrates, a twinkly-eyed, barefoot, pixie-like figure swathed in frayed robes that are crying out for the invention of the washing machine”

Financial Times

“The staging’s simple but witty (even the sign for the toilets is in English and ancient Greek), representing marketplace, home and death cell with minimal change, and the four-strong cast uniformly excellent.”

David Weir, London Pub Theatres