May 4-11 2005 TIME OUT LONDON

PHALLACY

New End Theatre

Carl Djerassi�s arts-versus-sciences detective yarn begins with a lecture: Regina Leitner-Opfermann, a specialist in classical antiquities, is expounding the aesthetic perfections of a Roman statue of a youth in her collection. When the subject of material analysis is raised, she declares the question �dull�—unaware that a team of chemists led by Rex Stolzfuss is about to use information relating to the proportions of trace metals found in the statue�s bronze to prove that her beloved Roman boy is in fact a Renaissance fake, or at best a copy.

�Phallacy� is the latest of eminent chemist Djerassi�s �science-in-theatre� plays. Suggested by a true story, the piece is packed with fascinating scientific and art historical facts, but is at its best dramatically when it concentrates on academic satire—armed with his devastating findings, �cocksure� Rex begins by claiming that he wants to be �collegial� but soon sets out to prove that Regina is not only scientifically ignorant but art-historically incompetent too. The slow-moving sixteenth-century flashback adds little to the interest of the piece, however, and the handling of the battle-of-the-sexes strand of the story—both chemists are male, both art historians females—lacks sureness of touch: the sub-plot concerning the angle of fall of the statue�s penis provides the evening with a slightly limp climax.

And Jordan production has some nice performances—fans of �Monarch of the Glen� will want to catch Hamish Clark in slouchy, affable boyish mode as Rex�s assistant Otto.

Robert Shore