Laughter and fear in equal measure in absurdist play

In a dimly lit psychiatric hospital, three men claim to be insane.

One says he is Albert Einstein. Another insists he is Sir Isaac Newton. The third, more unsettlingly quiet, is the actual physicist Johann Wilhelm Mobius.

As the curtain rises, a classic European absurdist play meets the Chinese stage with gripping freshness, stirring both laughter and deep reflection.

The National Theatre of China unveiled a new staging of the Chinese stage adaptation of The Physicists, a two-act comedy by Swiss writer Friedrich Durrenmatt.

Directed by stage veteran Wang Jiannan, the production explores timeless questions of knowledge, responsibility, and the perils of scientific advancement — now against the backdrop of a rapidly modernizing world.

From the coming Wednesday to July 27, the Chinese play will be staged at the National Theatre of China in Beijing.

"We didn't just translate the play; we translated its central moral and philosophical tension," Wang says. "The heart of the play lies in the idea that knowledge is not neutral. Those who possess it bear moral responsibility. This is especially powerful at a time when technologies like AI, nuclear energy, and biotechnology are rapidly advancing.

"We ask questions like: What happens when science outpaces ethics?" the director adds. "Theater doesn't solve problems; it asks questions and invites reflection."

Durrenmatt's original script, written at the height of the Cold War, imagines three brilliant physicists hiding in an asylum to avoid unleashing potentially catastrophic knowledge.

When Wang first directed the play back in 2008, he was a 26-year-old young director just starting his career with the National Theatre of China.

Over the years, he gained more experience in both theater and life. He says that this new version will keep the audience engaged through humor.

"When humor is woven into a play like this, it doesn't dilute the message; it deepens it," says Wang, adding that in the play, the absurdity of three geniuses pretending to be insane in an asylum is funny, until it becomes terrifying. The humor heightens the contrast between what seems ridiculous and what is actually tragic."

Actor Zou Yidao, who plays the role of Mobius, says: "What attracts me most to this character is the way he constantly shifts between 'madness' and 'brilliance'. Beneath that lies an incredibly complex game of human nature.

"It's this deep exploration of humanity that makes Durrenmatt's work a timeless classic. I deeply resonate with the play's themes of scientific responsibility and social duty — questions that remain powerfully relevant as our society continues to evolve," Zou says.

Li Ye, known for his comic timing, reinvents the role of Einstein as a jittery tech savant, while actor Wu Junda's Newton is utterly manic and unhinged in the first act but in the second, he becomes extremely calm and astute.

The Physicists is one of the eight productions that the theater is staging from June to October, to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War.

Other highlights include The Red Starting Point, co-directed by Tian Qinxin, which focuses on the turbulent years from 1919 to 1921 and vividly portrays the birth of the Communist Party of China; and Live Broadcast: The Founding Ceremony of the PRC, also by director Tian, which tells the story of the technologists, engineers and radio broadcasters of Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station who were tasked with the live broadcasting the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, which was held in Tian'anmen Square in Beijing on Oct 1, 1949.