The Axiom of Choice

A play about free will, war and mathematics.

Join eminent mathematician Andre Weil and his fictional creation Bourbaki, on their journey from zero via France, India and Finland to the edge of infinity, as they try to make sense of whether we really have free will or if our choices are pre-determined.

Imprisoned in Rouen during the Second World War, our hero, Weil, faces a choice that will determine his fate. And yet his final decision just doesn’t make sense. Bourbaki are here to solve this equation, recreate their creator and offer a proof to the problem. Life, they believe, is like a mathematical theorem made up of interconnected logical strands. But does a life always add up?
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Performances
17-19 February 2022. 4 performances at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford.
11 and 12 November 2024. 3 performances at the Oxford Playhouse.
November and December 2024. Tour of India. 15 performances in Mumbai, Assam, Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bangalore and Jaipur.

Written & Directed by Marcus du Sautoy
Co-Directed by Lu Descourtier
Produced by Claire Gilbert Ltd.

Set & Costume Design by Bronwen Herdman
Lighting Design by Rachel Sampley
Sound Design by Nick Gilbert
Movement Direction by Shane Shambhu
Dance support by Ekleido
Performed by Shipra Jain, Clive Mendus, Joseph Prowen, TJ Sulaiman
Stage Managed in Oxford by Maddie Whiffin

With thanks to the team at Oxford Playhouse, QTP Productions, Tom Chapman, Diana Vallverdu, Florian Bel Sorcha Corcoran, Julien Bernard-Grau, James Newton, St Thomas’ Church, Bold Elephant, Ryan Rajan Mal, Zishan Afsar, Vishnu Krishnan, Shani du Sautoy, Dyrol Lumbard, Evan Nedyalkov and the Mathematics department at the University of Oxford.

The production of The Axiom of Choice at the Oxford Playhouse has been generously supported by Ben Delo, also supported by Dangor Education, Stage One Bursary Scheme for New Producers & Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences.

The tour of India was made possible thanks to the generous support of Rohan Murthy.

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Reviews of performances at Oxford Playhouse:

**** “The quartet move around the simple set with balletic confidence and bring zest to a production which is occasionally reminiscent of Tom Stoppard. And you may well feel, after seeing The Axiom of Choice, that your mind has been extended in a Stoppardian kind of way even if you’re not sure exactly how.” “It’s full of light, colour and movement. Some elegantly choreographed moments in which the cast intertwine arms like a Hindu deity suggest the complex beauty of maths and also the rapture of an instant of discovery.” Philip Gooden Stage Talk Magazine

“An intriguing, fascinating production about decision-making…fluid physical style reminiscent of Complicité. The dialogue fizzes with difficulty like in Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers, scenes bursting into life. The set (designer, Bronwen Herdman) is cleverly constructed out of different geometrical wooden shapes, one moment a prison cell in Rouen where Weil is on trial for refusing to fight against the Nazi invasion of France, the next a train compartment in Finland which he shares with a Soviet physicist.” Jon Lewis, Newbury News.