- Thursday 29 October 2009
- 7.00pm-8.30pm
- Lecturers: Lord Julian Hunt Juliet Ackroyd Dr Armand Leroi
On the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's seminal work On the Origin of Species, join us for a one-off performance of Juliet Aykroyd's play The Ostrich and the Dolphin and the subsequent discussion.
The Dolphin is Robert FitzRoy, pioneer of weather forecasting and captain of HMS Beagle. Charles Darwin, his seasick passenger, is the Ostrich. The outcome of their adventurous sea voyage between 1831-6 was Darwin's momentous account of the Origin of Species: a Theory which subverted FitzRoy's beliefs and threatened his very being.
In a 4-way dialogue between their younger and older selves, the play dramatises the FizRoy and Darwin's doomed friendship, and reveals one tragic aftermath of the great Beagle voyage.
Following the performance there will be a discussion between Juliet Aykroyd, Lord Julian Hunt, former Chief Executive of the Met Office, and Prof Armand Leroi, an evolutionary developmental biologist, which will be chaired by Baroness Susan Greenfield. This discussion will pick up on the themes raised by the play and will further explore the radical nature of Darwin's ideas in the 19th century, thinking on his work today, and the next big avenues in evolutionary biology.
Tickets cost £8 standard, £6 concessions, £4 Ri Members.
In association with Acops, CERC Ltd, and Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre.
Listen to the audio archive of this event:
http://ri.content.s3.amazonaws.com/podcasts/2009/October/29 VoyageoftheBeagle.mp3