X&Y, a new play that asks big questions about the universe, opens next week at the Science Museum before transferring to the Manchester Science Festival later this month. We spoke to Dermot Keaney, X&Y’s Co-Creator and Director.
I am a co-creator and the director of X&Y. My role is to help Marcus du Sautoy and Victoria Gould, the actors in the show, tell their amazing story and create a play that will be enjoyed by audience of all ages and backgrounds. You don’t have to be a ‘maths geek’ to enjoy this, you just have to be a ‘story geek’ and I believe that we are all one of those.
I’ve been acting professionally for 20 years but I’m doing more and more directing these days. I love to tell stories and hope that X&Y will be the first of many collaborations with the Science Museum. It’s great to get to work with incredibly bright people every day and be part of a team that is creating something, truly unique and magical.
Working at the Science Museum is incredibly inspiring because everywhere you look you see the evidence of genius, creativity and discovery. One feels the presence of giants all around.
My favourite object at the Museum has to be Stephenson’s Rocket. I remember seeing it for the first time as a 9-year-old and understanding how important this object was in the history of invention. I say hello to it every time I walk past. The Apollo 10 Command Module runs a close second.
The most memorable show I have worked on would have to be as an actor when I played Maccus, the hammerhead shark-man in Pirates of the Caribbean. The sheer scale of the production was breath-taking and to be part of animation history is very satisfying. I also had my character made into an action figure, which was cool!
Follow Dermot on Twitter @dermot110
X&Y starring Marcus du Sautoy and Victoria Gould runs at the Science Museum from 10 – 16 October and Manchester Science Festival, MOSI, from 30 October – 3 November 2013.