Axiom of Choice is a delightfully odd piece of ensemble theatre. It’s part biography of Andrew Weil (but incomplete), part maths apologia, and part physical dance theatre spanning continents. It’s definitely charming, quirky, suitable for non-mathematicians, and fun; it’s definitely not a lecture in disguise (but you might learn some set theory)!
Broadly we follow the life of André Weil, a real French Jewish mathematician, navigating the turbulence of wartime in Europe, a teaching post in India, and participation in the group calling itself Nicolas Bourbaki, a sort of Dada-ist fictional mathematician writing textbooks and styling themselves as the new Euclid. It’s not a full biography - no mention is made of Weil’s wife, for instance, but his sister, the philosopher Simone Weil, argues passionately against him and his laissez-faire attitude. André, having studied Sanskrit and the Bhagavad Gita, takes the idea of dharma, or destiny, to heart and seems to consider his path in life inevitable, outside his realm of influence. This is frustrating to his sister, and I know how she feels!
The costumes are simple monochrome, vaguely European, and versatile for a part-swapping cast of four. The set is made of plain wooden shapes: squares, triangles, a pentagon, and can be slotted together into the hexagonal podium in the centre. It stands for prison, courtroom, train, mountain-top temple, meeting point, and particle chamber. The choreographed movement acts out set theory, roots us in different countries, and rewinds to show the path taken second.
Marcus du Sautoy is not principally a playwright, but there are some beautiful moments of theatricality. A great section rendered Russell’s Paradox easy to picture, by acting out a story of a barber who only shaves those who do not shave themselves, and asking if the barber is a member of his own group. I loved the grouchy prisoner with whom Weil shares a cell, butting in on his family arguments and proving a useful Everyman to require explanations. The scene on a train again peopled the play with one of its most memorable minor extras, a Russian nuclear scientist. Both prisoner and scientist were portrayed by able character actor Clive Mendus.
Joseph Prowen played Weil throughout, a capricious and captivating force, a keen student of life, passionate mathematician and infuriatingly impractical by turns. TJ Sulaiman was serious as Simone, intelligent and recognised as such, not just an adjunct to her brother, battling her philosophical ideals against the hard reality of war. Shipra Jain made the Sanskrit sound intoxicatingly beautiful, especially as the fabulous Indian professor who guides Weil in both Hindu legend and Indian culture. She also made a great patriotic Albanian Bourbaki!
For me the lens of predestination and free will wasn’t the most interesting strand of this delightful piece of theatre, but I think that’s because I was so distracted by everything else. It laid out a coherent set of characters and places, took a very personal slice of a very large slab of history, tied together philosophies, and did a splendid job in portraying the passion, creativity, imaginative metaphors for life that abound in maths - when it’s done right.