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Towering Rylance at the heart of Dr Semmelweis
SIMON PARSONS recommends a production about a pioneering 19th-century Hungarian doctor that reverberates with contemporary relevance
A string quartet and dancers representing the lost women troubling Semmelweis's thoughts, haunt both the stage and the auditorium
[Geraint Lewis]
TONY BURKE speaks to producer and broadcaster LUCY DURAN about her new project — Guitari Baro
JONATHAN TAYLOR is intrigued how good storytelling can make a hobby as obsessional as metal detecting seem fascinating
ROB HARGREAVES is moved by the way that memories of the Spanish civil war still stir our passions
RON JACOBS sees similarities between the personality of the the Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco, and Donald Trump
RUTH AYLETT recommends this book if you want to learn how AI’s large language models work
Dr Semmelweis
Bristol Old Vic
THE prescient seeds for this thought-provoking and stylish production were sown before the Covid pandemic started and its development has been shaped by the collaborative response enforced by the ensuing restrictions.
Mark Rylance and Stephen Brown have resurrected the largely unknown life of a 19th-century Hungarian doctor who was a pioneer of antiseptic procedures and became known as the saviour of mothers.
Working in the Vienna General Hospital, Ignaz Semmelweis realised that the increasing number of deaths in the maternity ward were related to doctors moving directly from autopsies to obstetrics carrying infections with them.
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