A surprisingly accessible play, given that it was set in ancient Greece and the dialogue was steeped in philosophy. It wasn’t long before Glaucon (Aidan Parsons) had reason to use the term QED (quod erat demonstrandum), which needs explaining to Plotinus (Huw Landauer), who wasn’t versed in the up-and-coming language, at the time, of Latin. Other points along the way are also explained, but the dialogue did not feel overly laborious or dripping with exposition.
There’s much fun to be had in exploring philosophical concepts, provided, of course, that one can tolerate such discussions. What the play attempts to do, in some detail, is examine the commonalities that exist between human connections, and reaches the conclusion that ultimately, there are more behaviours that have remained unchanged through the millennia than those that have. Plotinus is in love with Andreios (Alice Hope Wilson) and expresses his feelings through poetry.
The three characters, all university students, are in need to kill time on account of their lectures being cancelled for the day, for reasons unspecified. There’s enough to talk about between them without heading off to the nearest bar – slightly ironic, perhaps, for a production in a pub theatre, but these are students of the conscientious variety who take their educational endeavours seriously: at one point Plotinus even tells Glaucon to go away as his mind is already engaged in other matters besides the conversation Glaucon is attempting to have with him. What those matters are later transpires to not be entirely academic…
All dressed in togas, there is nothing visually to distinguish one character from another. Landauer’s Plotinus in particular is larger than life – a tad too hammy for some, perhaps, though the mannerisms were very enthusiastically received by some in the audience at the performance I attended, and there was a level of engagement with the dialogue that might not have been there without the bombast. It’s the sort of bombastic personality that is still very much around today in an era of influencers and mass market advertising – the play allows the audience to make that sort of connection for themselves. Or, to put it another way, QED indeed proves the points it is trying to make.
More thoughtful than comical, the philosophy wins out over the punchlines, even if the lighthearted mischief called to mind BBC Television’s Last of the Summer Wine. There’s a quirkiness to the production that lends itself well to a studio theatre space.
Review by Chris Omaweng
After their afternoon lectures are unceremoniously cancelled, three philosophy students in Ancient Athens find themselves at a loose end. Will they spend the afternoon in earnest contemplation, unearthing the secrets of the universe? Or will the other distractions the city has to offer – it’s wine, women, and chariot races – prove a greater temptation?
Q.E.D. is a laugh-a-minute comedy where old and new collide. Exploring modern love, life, and laziness through the lens of the ancient world, it asks how much human nature has really changed in the last two thousand years.
CAST
GLAUCON | Aidan Parsons
PLOTINUS | Huw Landauer
ANDREIOS/ARISTION | Alice Hope Wilson
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: James Turner
Director: Sebastião Marques Lopes
Producer: Chrisanthi Livadiotis
Q. E. D.
Drayton Arms Theatre
2 to 6 December 2025
