Synchronicity – White Bear Theatre, London

Arthur I. Miller’s play Synchronicity comes to the White Bear Theatre, delivering an erudite but somewhat static meeting of the minds.

Synchronicity

Synchronicity as described by Carl Jung: “[a] meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.”

Carl Jung on Synchronicity – Arts of Thought

Synchronicity, a play by Arthur I. Miller, is bookended, more or less, by Carl Jung’s own example of synchronicity in real life. A woman had not found success or relief in psychoanalysis because of her overly rational and logical outlook on life. Jung knew he must find a synchronicity, a meaningful coincidence, in order to get through to her. One day, just as the woman had finished describing a dream featuring a golden scarab, Jung heard a tapping at the window, revealing just such a beetle, not native to the area. The coincidence shook the patient out of her overly rationalistic world view, and connected her to her dream life.

An interesting idea. An interesting example. And an interesting jumping off point for a play looking at what is arguably a synchronicity in Jung’s own life: his mutually beneficial relationship with his patient, the physicist Wolfgang Pauli. Pauli came to Jung in Zurich in 1931. He was successful in his work by this point. But he was tormented by a sense that his discoveries pointed to something beyond physics that he could not understand or explain. His personal relationships were less successful. Estranged from his father following his mother’s suicide. Divorced, and turning to sex workers for intimacy. Pauli was at breaking point.

Jung’s analysis of Pauli was, in the end, one of the most fruitful of his career. Pauli was initially unsure of Jung’s treatment decisions, including referring him to a colleague, Erna Rosenbaum, for initial analysis. But he persisted, and found the process beneficial. The two men maintained a correspondence over the ensuing decades, and found professional stimulation in their conversations. The meeting of psychiatry and physics opened up interesting angles on archetypes, a collective consciousness as glimpsed through alchemy, symbols and numbers, and synchronicity. What a meaningful coincidence that Pauli came into Jung’s life just as he was working to develop this latter concept.

A Meeting of the Minds

Miller first turned the story of this unusual friendship into a book, before working it into the play now on at the White Bear Theatre in Kennington. Jung (Stephen Riddle) and Pauli (Jeremy Drakes) are the only characters, with the action unfolding as a series of conversations and a handful of asides. The set (Male Arcucci) stands in for Jung’s Zurich home and Pauli’s office, with symbols and equations covering the walls.

I sometimes question in my posts whether a certain play should be a play, or would be suited to a different format. In this case the question is: is there value to Synchronicity as a play, or was its incarnation as a book sufficient to convey Miller’s thoughts on the topic? Reflecting on this, I believe that theatre is a good format for this story. As well as conveying rather a lot of information on Jung and Pauli’s relationship, physics, alchemy and Jungian theory, there is a nice amount of character development. The reasonably long running time (two hours or so) is plenty for a good development arc from psychoanalyst/patient to a meeting of equals. The acting is excellent from both Riddle and Drakes, and the shifting power balance well-portrayed. Riddle’s excitement as Jung in the latter conversations, as needy as he was once aloof, is particularly endearing.

It is, however, rather a static set-up for a play. Anthony Shrubsall, directing, does his best to vary the energy, but it nonetheless lags at times. This is also partly a function of the volume of information the audience needs to take in. It’s a little like reading a challenging academic text: you need to keep yourself focused or you’ll realise you’ve stopped paying attention and have missed something. I’m still not convinced by the idea of a collective consciousness so might need a scarab to come tapping at my window one day. But there is a lot to enjoy about Synchronicity, particularly for those with an interest in the subject matter. I came away feeling wiser with a lot of information to unpack, perhaps in my dreams.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Synchronicity on until 30 November 2024. More info and tickets here.