Were a 12th-century magister at the then centre of learning in the Western world — the university of Paris — to apply the exciting, frightening "New Learning" of Aristotle to Howard Brenton's In Extremis, a retelling of the much-explored story of the lovers Abelard and Heloise that had its world premiere at Shakespeare's Globe tonight, he might give it two marks out of three.
There's a brilliant "antithesis" in the philosophical and political conflict between the adventurous rationalism of the young Peter Abelard and the traditional mysticist of the would-be saint Bernard of Clairvaux. And the synthesis of the whole play — its masterly interweaving of comedy and drama — deserves full marks. Brenton draws unashamedly on the traditions of the Elizabethans, who learnt to "work" a socially mixed crowd in the intimate, fast-moving space of coaching inn, and the brilliance of Shakespeare, who brought the new learning of his own time into the mix.
Who'd have thought that a 21st-century crowd could be listening so intently to philosophical debate from the 12th-century about the nature of the ideal that a solitary ringtone would sound like a thunderclap? When Colin Hurley, who's spot-on as the knowing, cynical, clever Louis VI, says: "Theology in Paris these days is more interesting than wrestling" there's no hint of irony, only a laugh of acknowledgement.
Yet it is in the thesis — the love affair between Abelard and Heloise, the part of the story that everyone knows — that Brenton's play falls down. Little blame can be laid on the actors: there's a clear, almost palpable, chemistry between Oliver Boot's Aberlard and Sally Bretton's Heloise.
The problem lies, it seems to me, in the writing of the character of Heloise. Going back to the original story, in his Historia calamitatum, Abelard made clear that as well as falling under the spell of hormones, he had been stunned by the literary genius of Heloise. And it is evident, even from her early letters, that the real-life Heloise was formulating an ethical theory of love that was deeply philosophical.
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1 - diana hartman
I am pleased to tell you this article is being featured in the Culture Focus today and tomorrow, September 2nd and 3rd.
Diana Hartman
Culture Editor