Written by the inventor of the pill, Carl Djerassi, Insufficiency is a comedy that takes on the neurotic world of science and academia. It’s frothy and light but ultimately not sufficiently entertaining. There are probably a lot more subtle themes in this play than this show was able to bring out. At the Riverside Studios.
Set in the chemistry department of a second-rate American university, Insufficiency focuses on the Polish chemistry professor Jerzy Krzyz (Tim Dutton of Ally McBeal and Bourne Identity fame) who is struggling to get tenure. His research is in the field of bubbleology – the studies of bubbles – but this is not the only reason his colleagues don’t take him seriously. Trying to solve the problem of hydrophilicity with the help of nanoparticles and polymer coating, he has dared to base his research on alcoholic beverages like champagne and beer. Plainly put, he tries to prevent fizzy drinks from turning flat too quickly and instead of publishing his findings in renowned chemistry periodicals, he sells them to companies like Dom Pérignon. His peers are jealous of the third-party funding he manages to collect and when two people die in mysterious circumstances, our mad professor gets dragged in front of a jury.
This might sound like an intriguing conceit, which sets up a conflict between characters to observe the petty antics in academia, but it turns out it to be quite disappointing. Over-repetitive statements about confidential disclosure-agreements and a story arc about an office love affair lead to no satisfactory conclusion. There is a whole subplot about racial stereotyping and name-changing: Jerzy Krzyz becomes Jerry who becomes Jean Delacroix, and despite that taking up a lot of time, it still remained under-developed and without punch.
The blandness of the set does justice to an actual uninspiring university setting. The sound design and lighting take up the theme of bubbles but they remain mere illustrations and sadly don’t add anything new to the piece. From fidgety stage hands to dripping puddles of water there are a lot of details that divert from some of the bigger ideas, along with a few rather clumsily-solved scene changes. And usually, if these details catch the audience’s attention, it means that the piece is not as engaging as it should be.
The plot bubbles along without any particular direction, although there is a parallel between the two plot lines: objectivity in science means not to be invested in the outcome of one’s studies, and of course if you’re working for a private investor this is not so easy. To unveil the truth about the two murders, Karen Archer has the thankless task of playing the prosecutor and addressing the audience-jury. Moving from suave to tenacious she does the best she can with this cliché-ridden role. But eventually, the court-room scenes as a framing device turn out to be rather pointless.
Walter van Dyk’s long-suffering Head of Chemistry doesn’t appear to be quite settled within the role, and Sara Griffiths puts up a good fight as the love interest caught between office politics and infatuation for the idiosyncratic scientist. The best thing about the play is Tim Dutton’s excellent portrayal of the eccentric professor, complete with orange socks and the attractive arrogance befitting a genius.
I couldn’t help but feel that this is a play that would probably shine more when being read rather than performed. It won’t leave you linguistically dazzled, and if that’s what you expect when you’re going to see a play about academic jealousies you will be somewhat disappointed. When Krzyz says “I don’t need to prostitute myself for a little pat on the head” to dismiss the pressure of having to publish in proper journals, or when he calls postgraduates a “group of slaves”, there is a glimpse of very well-constructed writing, but as a piece in general it fails to hold up to expectations. That is not to say that there aren’t some beautifully poetic moments, when bubbleology is put into the wider context of the structure of the universe and the theoretical concept of quantum space-time and foam. But these moments also point towards everything this play could have been were it not for some fatal logical fallacies. To suspend my disbelief, especially in the court room plot, this would have needed a much bolder direction. It lacks suspense and is not quirky enough to get away with structural weakness. It had a very bewildering ending, too, with bubbles of an entirely different nature.