The Soul of Wittgenstein
Omnibus Theatre, 6th February - 26th February
The Wittgenstein in question is real life influential philosopher Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (Richard Stemp) who taught at Cambridge University between 1929 and 1947. However, this play takes place at a time during World War II when Wittgenstein could no longer countenance his teaching of philosophy and logic at such a devastating time in history, preferring instead to take a manual job as a dispensary porter at Guys Hospital. In his private life the question of wether he was gay or in fact bisexual remains unanswered, due to there being evidence of him having relationships with several women. What is clear however is that he had fallen in love with several men in his lifetime, and it is this part of his sexuality that playwright Ron Elisha brings to an imagined meeting between Wittgenstein and John Smith (Ben Woodhall), one of the patients at the hospital to who Wittgenstein had been charged to dispense the prescribed drugs to on his rounds. It is also why the play has been chosen to headline the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham as part of the 96 Festival, celebrating the year Clapham Common hosted the Pride after-march party.
Whilst this potted history might suggest a play as dry and impenetrable as the copy of War and Peace illiterate cockney John Smith is given to read by Wittgenstein, nothing could be further from the truth. The Soul of Wittgenstein is a keenly observed two hander which is nothing short of a delight to watch. Even without the history, by the end of an amusingly extended introduction in which Wittgenstein gets dressed for his first day in the new job, the audience can immediately get the gist of a man who is seemingly as fastidious in his day to day life as he is about the process of thought and language. This is further revealed to comic effect upon his first meeting with John at the hospital, whose conversation being liberally peppered with cockney rhyming slang is as impenetrable to Wittgenstein as his own highly educated, latin strewn philosophical language is to John.
What follows is a deftly written and surprisingly amusing play, performed with perfect timing by the two actors, and skilfully directed by Dave Spencer. In no time at all, Wittgenstein and John have become the classic odd-couple, coming as they do from completely different backgrounds but finding there is much that can be learnt from each other now circumstance has thrown them together. We in turn get to witness Wittgenstein’s care for the patient turn slowly from a medical to an emotional one.
Ron Elisha clearly revels in the very different idiosyncratic uses of language as spoken by the two characters, and it is here he derives much of the comedy of which there is plenty, Richard Stemp’s Wittgenstein putting me in mind of Niles Crane from American sitcom Frasier, albeit a lot less foppish. It is however Wittgenstein’s amusing pedantry for language and sharply delivered, often unintentional one-liners that really gives the play life and allows the character to be imbibed with a warmth and pathos that keeps the audience fully invested in the developing relationship between the two characters throughout.
Given that the majority of the action takes place in John Smith’s hospital room, with a simple yet effective set designed by Mayou Trikerioti, it is full credit to all involved that this 80 minute play is so engaging. However, in the final quarter when the action finally does move briefly from the hospital room to the grounds outside, the energy that has been so expertly managed throughout seems to temporarily dip, the discourse between the two characters having less of the charm and connection than had otherwise been so apparent. Thankfully this does not last long enough to lessen the emotional punch of the final scenes.
From a queer theatre aesthetic, this play feels both original and refreshingly paced, it being something of a rarity to find such fully rounded characters written to exist far beyond their sexuality alone, which in turn makes the bonds that grow between them seem all the stronger.
★★★★
photographs: Lidia Crisafulli