"The Hypatiad" to be performed at 19 August Plenary Session

[français]

The Hypatiad
Written by Richard Higgs

Performed by Chi Mhende and Richard Higgs

The assassination of Hypatia of Alexandria in 415 CE marked the beginning of the descent of Western science into the Dark Ages. Her extraordinary scientific, philosophical and mathematical accomplishments, her insistence on sharing knowledge across racial and political barriers, and her association with the Mouseion of Alexandria (including its famous Library), make her a fascinating historical figure, independently of her legendary death and the iconic burning of the Library of Alexandria.

This play calls her up from the shadows of ancient Egypt to throw some light on an absurd fictional post-revolutionary world in which rebel librarians race against time to digitise and preserve literary works arbitrarily deemed “degenerate” and marked for destruction.

The dialogue between past and possible present reflects on the cyclical nature of wisdom and knowledge, many of the issues that we face after 20 years of democracy, and the uneasy mix of politics, science, belief, information and technology.

"The Hypatiad" will be performed at the Plenary Session on Wednesday, 19 August at 08.30-09.15 in Exhibition Hall 2.