In the programme, Richard Bean says “I’m interested in entertaining an audience rather than changing the world or becoming an auteur”, and he certainly does entertain the audience. Full of sweary banter and genuinely funny jokes, you come out of it feeling like you’ve heard some fun stories down the pub. I didn’t feel I had learned a moral message on leaving the play, but I don’t think Bean wanted to do that. He just wanted to display the much more complicated story of how men’s minds work, and how people find meaning in their life . . .

The centre of the play is Galileo’s confession about the one he is forced to sign. Hardy conveys the battle within himself with real thespian conviction. Galileo knows he is telling the truth. The mathematics is there, for anyone to attempt (and fail) to disprove. But he’s not willing to die for his truth. He can’t be a martyr. He’s not Jesus Christ . . . The Trials of Galileo is a classic one-man show. A deep exploration in to character with few bells or whistles, this was all about Hardy. And he shines like the sun.