A tangram is an ancient chinese puzzle comprised of seven geometrical shapes (five triangles, a parrallelogram and a square). These shapes form a perfect square but can then be reconfigured to make an infinite number of new shapes. And certainly Tangram Theatre’s is equally as full of wonder and magic as its namesake.
The full title of the show is deliberately preposterous, mimicking the overblown titles of scientific academic studies: The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection or the Survival of (R)Evolutionary Theories in the Face of Scientific and Ecclesiastical Objections: Being a Musical Comedy about Charles Darwin (1809-1882).
Even as the audience enter the auditorium John Hinton is very much in character as Charles Darwin, calling the spectators his ‘specimens’ and waxing lyrical about barnacles. Once everyone is settled he introduces himself and takes us on a tour of the simple set – his desk, book collection, globe etc. – and tells of his childhood and youth.
It is a fascinating background to a character we always think of as a wise old man to think he had such an unusual family upbringing, changing the subject of his studies from doctor to theology until eventually focusing on botany.
The musical and poetic elements of the show mean that Hinton reveals the facts with wit and humour – a suger-coated sweetener of the scientific pill – and carries the crowd with him all the way. There is a fair amount of breaking down the fourth wall that could be achingly embarrassing. But his flippant manner makes us go with him on a journey and have great fun in the process.
The songs are deliberately unpolished and shabby, not at all the power ballads he promises, and provide many farcical moments. This is emphasised by the physicality of his performance that is intentionally exaggerated in it’s extremity.
As pretty much a newcomer to evolutionary theory I found the more serious aspects of the piece fascinating and thought-provoking, although, as a Christian, I was a bit perplexed by the ‘atheist’ ending. Are Darwinism and theism mutually exclusive? I thought this was more a case of the censorship that the scientist met in his own time.
But clearly these are complex arguments which Hinton’s irreverence kind of belies or even mocks, a rather clever stance. You can imagine this show really firing up a sense of wonder in a teenager in a way that no science lesson ever could. But this is more than just theatre in education, it is an outstanding one-man performance that asks as many questions as it answers with some great laugh-out-loud moments on the way.
As seen 31 January, Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds