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Reviewed by:
  • A Disappearing Number
  • Robin Stone
A Disappearing Number. Conceived and directed by Simon McBurney. Theatre de Complicite, Barbican Theatre, London. 27 September 2007.

As Complicite’s latest collaboration began, the theatre suddenly became a lecture hall, the audience unwittingly transformed into students withstanding the onslaught of a math lesson. An enthusiastic “professor” scribbled numbers and signs on a whiteboard, affectionately discussing concepts with a sense of intimacy while the laughter of uncomfortable familiarity mixed with audible cringes from the audience. But a new realization dawned as her passion for her art emerged from the seemingly dry and mechanical lexicon of math. As she delved into the mystery of infinity, a longing to understand came to the fore. What is infinity? Is everything that exists and that can be imagined connected, and if so, how? Can these ideas be expressed logically or do they require a leap of faith or imagination?

Led by artistic director Simon McBurney, Complicite’s metatheatrical spectacle, A Disappearing Number, investigated the elegance and poetry of mathematics by employing an impressive mise-enscène that intricately intermingled all of the production elements in a patterned mathematical fashion, exploring infinity, boundless connectivity, and the human need to comprehend our experiences. Complicite examined these themes through the spatial and temporal intertwining of two relationships. One story focuses on the real-life collaboration between two early twentieth-century mathematicians: Srinivasa Ramanujan (Firdous Bamji), an Indian Brahmin, and G. H. Hardy (David Annen), the prominent Cambridge professor renowned for his work on pure mathematics and number theory. The other narrative centers on the fictional presentday relationship between Ruth (Saskia Reeves), a British math lecturer, and Al (Saraj Chaudhry), an American futures dealer whose parents emigrated from India.

Ramanujan and Hardy’s collaboration on concepts of infinity is a starting point for A Disappearing Number. In a post-performance discussion, McBurney said that the possibilities of infinity and of infinite connections inspired him after reading the writings of Hardy, who recognized Ramanujan’s genius, and was particularly intrigued by one formula that posits that when all numbers, through infinity, are added together, the sum equals minus one-twelfth. McBurney, who also studied at Cambridge, concluded that the mathematics of Hardy and Ramanujan is math as art—a method by which the invisible, the intangible, and the absent can be approached. Throughout the action, characters ponder whether the language of math can communicate the aesthetics of emotion better than verbal language, and whether math can express that which might only be imagined or felt by staring into the limitlessness of the stars. Ruth explains to Al that the sequence 1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + 1/32 + 1/64 . . . is beautiful; it is the mathematics of love or relationships, as McBurney posited, because it gets closer and closer to two though never quite touches it, except in infinity.

The company revealed infinite connections dramatically and theatrically as words, patterns, sights, and sounds simultaneously disappeared and reappeared. The title refers to Ruth’s telephone number, inspired by one of Ramanujan’s equations, which Al tries to keep after her death. Dialogue is expressive of character, and musical rhythm as familiar discourse was carefully mixed with syncopated, fragmented utterances (recorded and live) echoing from the past and foreshadowing the future. Concurrently, disjointed and linear action led to past and present overlapping and repeating as images of contemporary India were projected and repeated on monitors and screens while Ramanujan and past events were depicted nearby. Actors were characters one moment and projection screens or train seats the next, appearing and disappearing in light changes and behind swiftly moving panels. Live and recorded video, music, and sounds emphasized the intersection of past and present. Nitin Sawhney’s original score accentuated the juxtaposition of cultural dynamics as explored in the characters’ relationships by fusing Indian and Western sounds and rhythms with repeating phrases that often reappeared with tonal variations arranged in a mathematical pattern.

The intertwining of narratives facilitated Complicite’s exploration of McBurney’s belief that the compulsion to understand can be overwhelming, potentially leading to tragic ends. Ruth journeys to Chennai to study the work of Ramanujan, but dies of a...

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