Claire O'Connell, contributor
(Image: Patrick Bolger)
When you were a kid, did you dream of becoming an astronaut? Or maybe a ballerina? Assuming you didn?t pursue either of those careers, are those versions of you out there now, orbiting and pirouetting in other dimensions?
And what about those other possible ?yous? - the you that chose to travel the world instead of going to university, the you that stayed with a partner instead of breaking up with them. Are they out there too?
That?s the thought experiment in That?s About the Size of It - a play in which performer Niamh Shaw views the twists and turns of her possible parallel lives from the crow?s nest of the 10th dimension.
Inspired by a visit to CERN, Shaw says that she wanted to further explore her fascination with dimensions.
Shaw, who wrote the play with artist ?na Kavanagh, explains that their interpretation of string theory led them to propose the 10th dimension as a vantage point for the performance.
?String theory says that all the atoms that make up who I am are composed of even smaller, wiggling strands of energy that look a lot like strings,? she says. ?These strings are infinitesimally small and exist on a higher dimension - the 10th dimension. We interpreted the theory as saying that the wiggling strands of energy in every atom of my body exist on the 10th dimension. So then I must exist on the 10th dimension. And if you take that to its conclusion, I can now observe every possible probable outcome of my life from the 10th dimension - all the possible parallel lives and every possible probable outcome of my life based on chance, my actions, my decisions, dreams and the actions of others. The 'what ifs? of my life.?
Through Shaw?s on-stage narrative, combined with short films, we meet many of those ?what ifs?, including astronaut Niamh, ballerina Niamh, artist Niamh, London Niamh, scientist Niamh in the lab and even Muppet Niamh (from a childhood fantasy of being one of the characters).
The performance is intense, funny and at moments deeply personal as Shaw talks frankly about some tough times in her life. Onstage she uses a chalkboard to help describe the Standard Model in physics and the need to find her own version of the Higgs boson - the missing piece of the puzzle - to complete her understanding of life.
But can?t mixing the evidence from particle physics with the prospect of viewing lives in other dimensions blur the boundaries a little?
?We may take the notion of some scientific theories way beyond the origins of the theory, but I don't believe that we misrepresent any of the science,? says Shaw. ?I wouldn't think we lead people astray. We used our imagination and thought about the potential magic of these theories in the hope that people watching the show will imagine their potential 'What If's?.?
Since the first performance of That?s About the Size of It in 2011, Shaw and Kavanagh have updated the play with some of the latest developments in the field, including the story of the neutrinos that were not faster than light after all.
The pair were also wide awake and watching last week when CERN announced that they had finally found the Higgs boson, and they have been sharpening their play-writing pencils in time for this week?s performances.
?It's what I love about this piece,? says Kavanagh. ?As the science evolves and changes so will the piece. I was so moved by the image of Peter Higgs crying in CERN last week that it only reinforced my belief in the humanity of science and the human endeavour behind it. Ultimately we are looking at the humanity behind the science and Niamh is the conduit; all life is constantly changing.?
That?s About the Size of It will run from July 12 -14 July at The Project Arts Centre in Dublin as part of the Science in The City Festival during Euroscience Open Forum 2012.
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