Heisenberg | Arcola Theatre

In 2015, Heisenberg, a play written by Simon Stephens, made its first appearance on stage. And now a new version which is directed by Katharine Farmer comes to the Arcola Theatre. In this version, the two main characters of the story are no longer a man and a woman, but instead two women.

At St Pancras railway station, 42-year-old Georgie (Faline England) suddenly rushes up behind 75-year-old Alex (Jenny Galloway) and kisses her on the neck. After Georgie’s apology, Alex expects the two to never cross paths again, but Georgie begins to speculate about what kind of person Alex is and tells her inexplicably many things about herself. Later, she even chases Alex into her butcher’s shop. Although Alex repeatedly tries to end this somewhat unusual relationship, she inexorably falls deeper and deeper into it. And when Alex tries to escape from the relationship before she falls in love with Georgie, Georgie suddenly tells Alex that she needs £2000 to find her son in New Jersey.

Two chairs, a couple of coat hooks and a rope light make up the stage on which this story takes place. As the lights (Rajiv Pattani), the music (Hugh Sheehan), and the position of the chairs change, we follow the two to various different locations. As the warm yellow light shines on them, it’s as if we’re seeing a morning when the sun has just risen. The sonata for violin and piano by Bach, which Alex plays during the play, adds a touch of melancholy and beauty to the air.

England’s Georgie is always rambling on about something in a tone, almost as if she is singing. One minute she is talking about one thing, the next she is talking about something else that has nothing to do with it anymore. She is full of swear words, but as soon as these words come out of her mouth, she immediately apologises softly, as if they came out of her mouth uncontrollably. When she smiles, her face crinkles and her eyes squint, and it’s times like these that she becomes adorable. When she realises that she might have ruined everything, she puts on her shoes and ties up her hair with tears in her eyes, giving an incredibly touching performance portraying the emotions.

Galloway’s Alex is calm, steady and deep. Galloway has a great ability to portray the sense of vulnerability, and there is a very natural humour that comes from both actors, with their personalities complementing each other. Even with the large age difference, their mutual attraction is completely convincing. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of people they were and what kind of stories they had from the first few minutes of the play, and the play satisfied my curiosity in their dialogues very naturally.

Whilst it may seem like Heisenberg is about romance, it’s really about the mutual healing of two lonely people. And while we don’t know exactly where the relationship goes, this story leaves a serene and beautiful sadness.

Heisenberg runs at Arcola Theatre until 10th May 2025.

Tickets and More Information

★★★★★ (5*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Charlie Flint