Four ECU students to perform the titular role in ‘Galileo’
In a unique performance of “Galileo” by Bertolt Brecht, audiences will see four East Carolina University students portray the astronomer Galileo Galilei, a central figure in physics and astronomy in the 17th century.
The final play in the 2025-2026 ECU/Loessin Playhouse series from the School of Theatre and Dance (SOTD), “Galileo” performances are set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in McGinnis Auditorium on campus. Tickets are $10-20.
Director and SOTD associate professor of acting Austin Jones first worked with a Brecht text in 2004, appearing in “Man is Man.” Jones said he is drawn to Brecht’s epic theater and theatricality, using elements like breaking the fourth wall (when actors acknowledge the audience or that they are in a performance), using projections and musical numbers, and asking audiences to think critically.
From left, School of Theatre and Dance students Kristen Cox, Ezra Woodruff, Trevor Herrin and Riley Thompson rehearse a scene of “Galileo.” (Photo by Jessica VanderKolk)
Jones chose “Galileo” — in which Galileo shares with his students the revolutionary idea that the Earth orbits the sun — to expose students to those elements.
“It really spoke to me with regard to feeling like truth is becoming a very elusive part of our society with misinformation, with social media, with fake news, with AI and deep fakes, and how it’s becoming more and more difficult to identify truth with our own eyes,” he said. “My hope is that audiences will be entertained, but will also be able to follow the story and walk out of the theater having some questions, to have a conversation about truth.”
Student actors portraying Galileo have similar hopes. Performing from different aspects of Galileo’s life and character are students Ezra Woodruff (“The Discoverer”), Kristen Cox (“The Teacher”), Trevor Herrin (“The Strategist”) and Riley Thompson (“The Penitent”).
Thompson, a senior professional acting student, hopes audiences take to heart the questions posed in the play and continue to think about them after the show.
“Yes, this play was written in the 1940s and takes place in the 1600s, but the messages and circumstances are so disarmingly modern that it’s virtually impossible to miss the intention of putting on this play in 2026,” she said.
Herrin, a junior acting student, added that he hopes people embrace the human impulse to ask questions in the first place.
“As a society, we need to question authority more than ever,” he said. “I hope this play influences people to ask more questions and stand up to authority. These characters go through what we all go through today, and we need to be careful and protect each other more than ever.”
The four students playing Galileo looked for their own truth in developing their representation of a real person, while working closely as an ensemble to create one full character. For Cox, a senior professional acting student, that included the challenge of “a 22-year-old young woman who likes my full face of makeup and acrylic nails and hoops” playing a significant man in history.
Cox asked her own questions about how to portray Galileo in a believable way by digging into information about his life and character.
“Ultimately I came to this beautiful conclusion that being an old man with white hair and a beard doesn’t make you Galileo, but rather how we tell the tale of his life,” she said. “Galileo’s need for discovery and doubt and knowledge lives in people of all different walks of life, and those qualities don’t go away just because I maybe don’t look the part.”
A resource for Cox and other cast members comes from packets curated by production dramaturg Megan Jones. Chosen by SOTD resident dramaturg and associate professor Dr. Jennifer-Scott Mobley, Jones conducted her own research and prepared pages of information to help cast members prepare for their roles.
Jones, a senior musical theatre and history honors student, served in the dramaturg role for the first time and has enjoyed the process so much she applied to a dramaturgy graduate program.
“Anything about the show that someone wouldn’t know, I gave them a whole packet to educate their choices,” Jones said.
That includes Brecht’s background, the historical context of the time period when Brecht wrote the play, information about Galileo, pronunciation of the Italian words in the script, and plenty of science. Jones also answers questions for the director that come up throughout rehearsals, adding new research and information, and creates a lobby display for audiences at McGinnis, including posters and decorations that match the “vibe” of the show.
“I picked the things that stood out to me as something the first-time viewer would need to know to contextualize things,” Jones said. “I did some science, so everyone can get a little refresher. The casual theatregoer probably doesn’t know about Brecht the playwright, so I have a few things on him; and I did astronomy versus astrology because a lot of people don’t know the difference and they are both used in the show.”
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