★★★★☆
It is easy to understand why Lauren Slater’s book Opening Skinner’s Box provoked a mix of curiosity and controversy on its publication in 2004. The American psychologist and author’s “compendium of tales” sets out to map the 20th century through ten of its most notorious psychological experiments, many of them triggered by the farthest extremes of human behaviour.
This stage adaptation, created by the always inventive theatre company Improbable, in partnership with Northern Stage, is, if anything, more compelling than its source, because it strips away much of the personal history and editorialising that Slater wove into her factual research. What we are left with is a fascinating — if at times alarming — insight into the scientific quest to understand what it means to be human.
Phelim McDermott and Lee Simpson direct an ensemble of three men and three women, all dressed like boffins in brown suits and bow ties, who pass the narrative among them, switching between multiple roles, often within the same segment. Some of the experiments depicted have acquired near-mythical status, including the research conducted after the murder of Kitty Genovese in New York in 1964, which was witnessed by 38 people in nearby apartments, none of whom intervened or called the police. Others, such as Harry Harlow’s attempt to discern a scientific basis for the human concept of love by isolating young chimps from their mothers, pose thorny ethical dilemmas.
While this multifaceted inquiry into who and what we are proves gripping over the course of a speedy two hours, the no-nonsense accounts of lobotomies, the power of group-think and cognitive dissonance can make for uncomfortable viewing. Being forced to think of oneself purely in terms of circuits and grey matter, as happens here, is unnerving to say the least.
Presented on an almost bare stage and with subtle lighting design by Nigel Edwards, the production relies heavily for its effect on our engagement with a dense text. If the actors occasionally stumble over their lines as they pass around storytelling duties, overall they make light work of bringing to life these famous experiments and the not-always-admirable people who created them.
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, May 5-14; Bristol Old Vic, May 20-21