Isaac's Eye: It's intense, it's beautiful, it's weird and it is funny.

This week on drama on the waterfront, Isaac's Eye actor (he plays Isaac Newton!) and Circa newcomer Andrew Paterson tells us all about his experiences so far working at Circa in this exciting new Lucas Hnath play.

Isaac's Eye cast: (background, left to right) Alex Greig, Todd Rippon, Neenah Dekkers-Reihana, (foreground) Andrew Paterson. Photo by Paul McLaughlin.

Yay, my first job at Circa and my god is it exciting.

I first watched a Circa show when I came down to Wellington for the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Competition finals when I was 17. My teacher took us all out to Circa one night, the show that was on was Uncle Vanya. I knew nothing about Chekhov, it sounded a bit boring to my 17-year-old self.

But after watching it I was a Chekov convert. It was all that my theatre geek classmates and me would talk about for the rest of the trip. The beautiful story, the impressive staging (swing included) and the exciting acting.

Now seven years later I am so eager to be playing on the same stage. And I love that my first show at this long-standing theatre is such an exciting piece as Isaac’s Eye. And on top of that I get to play the great man himself, Isaac Newton.

Andrew Paterson. Photo by Paul McLaughlin.

Through doing research for the show I have found some fun facts about the great Isaac Newton:

1) The apple falling on his head didn’t actually happen. Apparently he was just looking out a window and happened to see an apple fall off a tree, which started him thinking about gravity.

2) He wasn’t expected to survive as a baby. He was born prematurely on Christmas day, and was so small his mother said that he could fit into a quart mug.

3) He tried his hand at alchemy, trying to turn lead into gold and maybe find the elixir of life.

4) He predicted the end of the world would be 2060. He predicted this through his own interpretation of the bible. "This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail."

5) He was a member of parliament but only spoke once to tell someone to close a window.

6) Apparently his dog once set his laboratory on fire destroying 20 years of research.

This has been a wonderful experience working on this piece, and with such lovely and talented group of people. I can't wait for opening night, and the chance to share this awesome story with the Circa audience. It's intense, it's beautiful, it's weird and it is funny.

Come along!

Isaac's Eye opens in Circa Two on 18 October with a $25 Preview on Friday, 17 October and a $25 Matinee on Sunday, 19 October. To book, visit www.circa.co.nz or call the Circa Box Office on 801-7992.