Cosmic take on Brecht’s Galileo perfect for post-truth world

Director hails clash between science and political dogma as more relevant than ever

Watching stars at the theatre takes on new meaning at the Young Vic in London this month. A swirling cosmos and a giant planetarium have been recreated for an ambitious staging of Life Of Galileo, Bertolt Brecht's masterpiece about the 17th-century astronomer.

The production marks a return to live performance by Joe Wright, one of the UK's foremost film directors. Some of the audience will be on the floor, lying down or sitting on scattered cushions, from which they will gaze up at inspiring footage of stars, planets and cosmic clouds projected on to a vast circular structure suspended from the ceiling. Actors will perform among the audience and along a narrow circular platform, like a planetary ring system. The rest of the audience will be seated around them.