The Genius (Royal Court, 1983) is Howard Brenton's play about science, politics and the relations between the two. The American Leo, amoral in his personal life, but a brilliant physicist, has made a mathematical discovery involving the unified field theory, which could lead to an even more powerful nuclear bomb. He has fled to a British university, which he calls “The edge of the Holy American Empire”. A young female mathematics prodigy, Gilly, has made a similar discovery at the university. To Gilly, her discovery is about the pure beauty of the mathematics involved. Despite Gilly and Leo's attempt at a piece of street theatre to make the point that their knowledge must be protected from those with power, the British …
1002 words
Citation: Barfield, Steve, Julie Waddington. "The Genius". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 February 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16702, accessed 24 November 2024.]
