Let Newton Be! Launch

The official launch of the 2011 UK and Canadian/US tour of Craig Baxter’s sparkling play Let Newton Be! took place in Downing College’s Howard Lecture Theatre on Friday 18th March, with particular support from Cambridge University Press. Attended by a capacity audience of some 120 people, the wit and invention of a script composed entirely of the authentic words of Newton and his contemporaries shone through, ably delivered by the “three Newtons” (young, middle-aged and old) who share the stage throughout.

Kate Malyon is outstanding as Little Isack, full of the endless curiosity of youth – in Newton’s case, somewhat more acute than the average teenager! William Finkenrath plays Newton, the Cambridge student and Fellow, portraying expertly both his intellectual intensity and his religious preoccupations. David Meyer is equally convincing as Sir Isaac, the revered elder statesman of British science, his performance exuding grandeur, authority and the confidence born of an exalted reputation.

Under Patrick Morris’ energetic direction, and framed by a simple but ingenious set, these three fine figures play out an energetic and engaging drama, as Newton wrestles with himself throughout the course of a series of scientific problems, and his passionate theological convictions.

The official launch was followed by two further well-attended shows on Saturday 19th March at the Cambridge Science Festival, and the play now travels to Colchester (22nd March), Grantham (23rd), Rugby (24th), Glasgow (26th), and London’s Royal Society (28th), before moving over to the US and Canada for a performance in Toronto on 13th April.

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