FRINGE 2019: 3 HISTORICAL plays
THE WALK IN THE SNOW: The True Story Of Lise Meitner
Stage 3 (Walterdale Theatre)
Jem Rolls is a great storyteller – that’s the most obvious conclusion one can draw from his 2019 Fringe production. It might boggle the minds of some, given the relative inaccessibility of the subject matter – but Rolls can make physics, and the history of modern physics, not just interesting, but spellbinding.
This piece, a sequel of sorts to his past Fringe production The Inventor Of All Things, is an exploration of the life of a female Jewish physicist from Austria named Lise Meitner who made the original discovery of nuclear fission – before escaping the Nazis with another forgotten physicist during World War II.
It’s really quite remarkable what Rolls does on stage. Who can get a room full of artsy theatre-goers to understand nuclear fission? Who can identify obscure historical figures and bring them back to life in a way that makes you wonder how they were ever forgotten in the first place? Whose enthusiasm for his subject matter is surpassed only by his ability to command and direct the attention of an audience into following his ever unfolding narrative? He can – quite easily.
Other than laughing at the goofball foibles of the stock characters on Big Bang Theory, physics sadly has near zero applicability to most people’s everyday lives. Rolls is a game changer – like Neil deGrasse Tyson or Bill Nye, with the added bonus of taking the awkward science nerd factor right out of the equation.
In this and all other regards of this great show, Jem is, for want of a better pun, an absolute gem.
5 out of 5
