An Experiment with an Air Pump

Shelagh Stephenson’s An Experiment with an Air Pump takes as its point of departure Joseph Wright’s 18^th century painting An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump in which a scientist is placed “where you usually find God”. Stephenson’s play asks whether the scientist has a right to ‘play God’, and if so, at what cost when a life lies in the balance?

As we travel back and forth between 1799 and 1999, we realize that although the context may have changed, the basic questions remain the same. We are still playing with life and death and aren’t really able to deal adequately with the serious ethical questions that come hand in hand with technological and scientific advances and our yearning to “change the world”.

The story is also a vivid commentary on evolving gender roles within two unfolding, family dramas. Two marriages, intimately portrayed, form the prism through which we view the story.

Finally, there is a bit of Agatha Christie in the telling as well. Some fun on the way and a mystery slowly unveiled which packs a powerful punch in the end.

Anne-Marie Donovan, Director