Higher than Babel

by Andrew Caldecott

Bridewell Theatre, London

Andrew Caldecott’s play consists of two parallel stories about scientific responsibility – of Scioni, loosely based on Galileo, and his relationship with the Catholic church after his discovery that the Earth revolves around the Sun; and the church’s turning a blind eye to the application of new, destructive technology in the Germany of the second world war.  The challenge was to find a style of music that fitted with both early 17th century Italy and a modern Europe at war