God and Stephen Hawking

The most original and challenging of all Hawdon’s plays. It caused a minor media-storm on its pre-London tour in 2000 when Stephen Hawking, having first given it his endorsement, than denounced it as an intrusion on his private life, despite the fact that it is generally recognised as a tribute to him. The critics took dramatically opposing sides, and in the controversy the play never made it to London, despite a generally enthusiastic reception from the early audiences and commentators.

The play uses Hawking’s extraordinary life and career as a vehicle around which to explain in theatrical terms the scientific themes explored in his own best selling book “A Brief History Of Time”. In a hugely demanding central role (played in that production by Robert Hardy) God appears as himself, and in various guises as Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, professors, mathematicians, the Pope, and even the Queen!

Audiences emerge, not only having had a hopefully entertaining evening, but also with an  increased understanding of modern scientific enquiry into the complex mysteries of the universe, and its impact on traditional religious attitudes.