A play like a thriller about the menacing power of knowledge, the ruthless defence of power, truth and lies, passion and fear

The Galileo affair changed everything! His discoveries: a revolution that was never meant to be believed. The supposedly God-given order was called into question. Chaos had to be prevented at all costs.

In 17th-century Italy, Galileo proves the theory that the sun does not revolve round the Earth, yet renounces it out of fear when the Inquisition threatens him with torture. Instead of a hero, Brecht portrays a contradictory man driven by material interests, fear and a thirst for truth, whose decision betrays social progress as well as his friends and students.

For Brecht, Galileo’s recantation can be regarded “as the ‘original sin’ of modern natural sciences”. The natural sciences lost their revolutionary social character and “never again came so close to the people”.

Following the two performances, we invite you to come and gaze at the stars! As we look through the telescope, an astronomer from the Bochum Observatory will tell us about the celestial order hidden within the chaotic starry sky.