Mark Ronan
Mark Ronan

Professor of Mathematics. Author of Symmetry and the Monster — a popular account of one of the great quests in mathematics. Lecturer on mathematics and humanities, including Mesopotamian literature. Cold-water swimmer. Regular reviewer of opera, ballet, theatre.

Latest Theatre Reviews

Henry V, with Jude Law, Noël Coward Theatre, December 2013

December 3, 2013

“O for a muse of fire … a kingdom for a stage, princes to act …”. And though they were but actors all, confined to the stage of the Noël Coward Theatre, this Michael Grandage production came over with conviction. The heavy weathered boards of which sets and stage was made gave a feeling of …

Read more >

Parsifal, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, November 2013

December 1, 2013

The Royal Opera House’s choice for Wagner’s bicentenary is a new production of Parsifal by director Stephen Langridge and designer Alison Chitty, the same team who gave us Birtwistle’s Minotaur five years ago. Here they achieved similar dramatic clarity using a Cube, which changes from opaque to translucent to open, partly to illustrate scenes from …

Read more >

Romeo and Juliet, with Acosta and Osipova, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, November 2013

November 22, 2013

Having now joined the Royal Ballet as a Company member rather than a guest artist, Natalia Osipova’s performance of Juliet was much anticipated. Her technique and dramatic flair served her well, particularly in the final scene of Act III when her body crumpled like a rag doll in Carlos Acosta’s arms. It was a fine …

Read more >

See all Theatre Reviews
Latest Journalism

Wagner: A Long-Running Cycle of Triumph and Despair

A brief history of the Bayreuth Festival, and discussion of the new 2013 Ring production for Wagner’s bicentenary, History Today, December 2013, pp.3,4

Read more >

Donizetti’s Three Queens at Welsh National Opera

A review of Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, and Roberto Devereux in new productions at the WNO, New Statesman, 1–7 November 2013, pp.58,59.

Read more >

See all Journalism
Feature

This is the story of a mathematical quest that began two hundred years ago in revolutionary France, led to the biggest collaboration ever between mathematicians across the world, and revealed the ‘Monster’ – not monstrous at all, but a structure of exquisite beauty and complexity.

This book tells for the first time the fascinating story of the biggest theorem ever to have been proved. Mark Ronan graphically describes not only the last few decades of the chase, but also some of the more interesting byways, including my personal favourite, the one I called “Monstrous Moonshine”.

John H. Conway, von Neumann Chair of Mathematics, Princeton University

In Wagner’s bicentenary year  Mark is reviewing new productions of several Wagner operas, including:

Die Feen in concert, Chelsea Opera Group, March 2013.

Der Ring des Nibelungen, Berlin Staatsoper under Daniel Barenboim. Daily Telegraph, 12 April 2013.

Lohengrin, WNO, May 2013.

Wagner Dream,  Wagner’s death and Buddhism, WNO, June 2013.

Productions of The Ring, from Longborough in June 2013, and Bayreuth in August 2013 … plus more Wagner at the Proms, and a comparison of four Ring productions in the New Statesman.

Also see my articles Eurodämmerung and Wotan’s trolley, comparing the Ring with the Eurozone crisis.