★★★★★
Aether immediately asks you to suspend disbelief. It asks you—just for one second—to expand your mind. To take a leap, a sidestep, a foray into the unknown. Guided with a distinct expertise through galaxies, ancient worlds and a theoretical physics PhD at Cambridge University, TheatreGoose presents the fantastical yet firmly grounded in reality, Aether. It is a tour de force of theatre. It is sheer brilliance written by Emma Howlett. It is everything—and in the grand scheme of things… it is nothing? And it makes you, at the very least, raise an eyebrow at the topic of physics and what else is out there.
Aether is seemingly limitless. It brings together five separate storylines that twist around each other with remarkable pacing, each as fascinating as the last. The central thread builds up the life of Sophie (Sophie Kean), a struggling final year PhD student. She’s in the giving up phase, seeking inspiration, and finds herself butting heads with her partner. Her studies involve reaching out into the unknown, with the question of finding out what else there is, and how much humanity still doesn’t know. Combined and intertwined with a magician, astronomer and medium, Aether is unstoppable.
Through this, we are transported through time and space to women throughout history examining physics, illusion and the mysteries of science. The women have been mostly left out of the usual rhetoric and are being brought to life here. It is daring theatre, executed with charm and wit by the talented Gemma Barnett, Sophie Kean, Anna Marks Pryce and Abby McCann. The show is peppered with dance between scenes that flow into one another, using the smallest of props to transform with conviction into the next character in whichever pocket of history they belong. Impressively detailed, each tale comes to life, with none feeling neglected or underdone, and none eclipsing the other.
The tone is of wonder and curiosity, intensified through the use of inventive lighting and sound—and even some light-touch audience participation. Smart and pacy the stories whirl around each other as each character bursts into life in the intimate space of the Anatomy Lecture Theatre at Summerhall. The overall result is spellbinding. Aether ensnares you in the magic, with each performer as beguiling and charismatic as the next across the plethora of roles they embody. Needless to say, the comic timing is impeccable.
Aether considers the bigger picture. It crosses time, land and dimensions and not once do you get lost. Carefully led by TheatreGoose, the audience watch in amazement and marvel at the spectacle of theatre created before their eyes. Inventive and assured, Aether is not to be missed.
Aether will be performed at the Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Summerhall until 25 August as part of Edinburgh Fringe.
Words by Hannah Goldswain
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