Heavy ions are not all that is colliding in Shaun McCarthy’s short, sharp 2009 play which remains on view for the next two Saturday lunchtimes at the Old Fire Station. There is pretty powerful impact, too, between a pair of scientists involved in the ground-breaking experiment in high-energy nuclear physics at the heart of the action and a fundamentalist pastor who has travelled to Geneva from the US Bible belt with his missus to say why he doesn’t approve.

For Pastor Nathanial Goodman (James Card), a successful discovery of the so-called ‘God particle’ would have important theological implications in potentially excluding the Almighty from what has traditionally been called the Creation.

Such an outcome would entirely suit the fiercely atheist Dr Vivien Houghton (Steve Hay, below). But more devotion to the rigours of science on his part might be necessary for this happy consummation.

The focused approach of his colleague Dr Cydney Lavell (Gaye Poole) could prove instructive in this respect. But she, too, shows a capacity for play on occasion, illustrated in a boozy session with the pastor’s bimboesque spouse Martha (Amy Enticknap), a woman who has much to hide, if not very much on top.

The play (director Katie Read) is the first offering from the new Saturday Matinee Company. It filled the OFS last week for an hour of basic, thought-provoking theatre. Try it.

Collider
Old Fire Station, Oxford
Saturday and January  24 at 12.30pm
Box office: 01865 305305, ticketsoxford.com