I know, this is not rock ‘n’ roll but then it is sort of as Brian Cox was a member of a band at one point in his multifaceted career. Now he is a megastar science Professor who travels the UK, and probably further afield, teaching us all about the formation of the Galaxy and much, much more. He normally performs at arenas and sells them out, but this tour, which is entitled Horizons, he is visiting smaller regional theatres. Which brought him and Horizons to The Globe Theatre at Stockton.
I have visited The Globe once before, to see Status Quo, no less. The venue harks back to 1935 when it was first constructed as a musical hall. From then on it became a massive cinema, and hosted many great pop stars during the 1960s including The Beatles. It then closed sometime in the 1970s and a few years ago was renovated, brought back to its former glory, and started to attract a vast array of artists of all types including rock music, comedy and, on this particular evening, science.
Brian Cox explains on his website: “Horizons has taken over 250,000 people across three continents on a dazzling journey; a story of how we came to be and what we can become. Using state of the art screen technology, venues across the world from New Zealand to the Arctic Circle have been filled with images of far-away galaxies, alien worlds, supermassive black holes and the latest theories of the origin of the Universe. What is the nature of space and time? How did life begin, how rare might it be and what is the significance of life in the Cosmos? What does it mean to live a small, finite life in a vast, eternal Universe? Having travelled the world, it’s now time to bring Horizons back home to the UK for a final journey around our magnificent and baffling Universe.”
The reviews of the show are fantastic:
‘A Jaw-dropping reminder that human life is both irrelevant and hugely precious.’ The Guardian
‘Science and cosmology doesn’t get any more dazzling and interesting than this – a wonderful journey through space and time orchestrated by Professor Brian Cox.’ Daily Echo
‘Stunning’ Liverpool Echo
‘Is your brain hurting yet? Because mine certainly was, but in beautifully, mind-expanding sort of way…We came away with a new found of love of the basics of science and maths, and a thirst to learn more’ Express and Star
With reviews like that how could I not go along and see what all the fuss was about. So, I bought tickets for the show, which were quickly snapped up and it was soon a complete sell-out. On the night, Jackie my carer and I had a trip down to Stockton courtesy of my friendly taxi driver. When we arrived, we joined a short queue and soon realised that Professor Cox appeals to people of all generations. The audience comprised many older people (like myself) down to teenagers and families who had, presumably, brought their children along to learn a little about science and the universe.
Brian Cox popularises the science of our galaxies and Horizons covers the birth of the universe, how we all evolved from amoeba, moving on to more modern concepts including black holes and the multi-verse. He draws from the work of famous scientists such as Einstein and Stephen Hawking. The performance was in two parts, with a short interval, during which I took the opportunity to purchase a couple of programmes and a T-shirt. Yes, this science dude even has merchandise! The staff in the venue were extremely helpful in showing us to our seats which were up in the circle, helping us locate and use the lift and even coming to us to allow us to order drinks at our seat (which was, by the way, an excellent view). Well, I had to have a Jack Daniels; it would be rude not to.
Brian’s performance is augmented by a massive screen showing us pictures of the many galaxies which surround us. He made the science of how we evolved, galaxies, time and space, black holes and much more very accessible. As myself being a former mathematician, with a PhD in Mathematics from 40+ years ago and being a Chartered Engineer, and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (sorry, it is out there now, I am a closet academic as well as a total rock maniac) I could relate to the concepts he took us through. Jackie was fascinated and found it totally enjoyable. And it was soon over in the blink of an eye. Totally fascinating and everyone gave him a tremendous ovation at the end.
We were soon back in our taxi and weaving our way through Norton, past the Tilery where my son used to play hockey (not sure why the area is called the Tilery; I guess there must have been a tile factory in that location many years ago), and 45 minutes or so we were back home. Many thanks to Jackie for taking the photographs and Chris for manipulating the site.
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