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FLATLAND: A Romance of Many Dimensions Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is based on a Victorian satire of the same title by Edwin A. Abbott (1 838-1 926). Flatland tells the story of a two-dimensional entity exposed to the three-dimensional universe and the consequences of this knowledge upon his return to Flatland. Highstein and Tierney's magical stage adaptation is populated by kinetic sculptures which are manipulated mechanically and transformed by light and sound into fantastic characters. The Flatland text has been widely used to illustrate principles in physics and to explain the difficulty of understanding a fourth dimension, but it may also be read as social satire, political commentary, or theological allegory. Abbott was in fact neither a physicist nor mathematician, but a schoolmaster whose primary interest were classics and theology.

The main character of Flatland is a Square, a lawyer by trade and a “square” in more ways than one. Locked into the middle class, the Square lives in Flatland, a country where social status is rigidly determined by one's geometry. (The width of one's angles determined one's place in the social hierarchy.) Movement between social classes is difficult, and rules governing the behavior of different groups are strict and rigid. Rebellion is punishable by death. Among the more dangerous inhabitants of Flatland are its women. They are straight, pointy lines-brainless, sharp and given to fits of rage. Along with soldiers, they occupy the lowest social strata. The Square's adventure begins when he encounters the kingdom of Spaceland, a three-dimensional world presided over by a Sphere. From Spaceland, the Square is able to view Flatland and all of its inhabitants from above. Fie is stunned by this new knowledge of a world previously unimaginable.

Enlightened by this discovery of a new dimensions, the Square asks the Sphere whether they might now visit the fourth, fifth or sixth dimension. His humble request is met with derision - of course, retors the

Sphere, there are no more than three dimensions! Look around you! Only fools and madmen might believe this trifling nonsense. Soon enough, our enlightened Square returns to his flat homeland, commanded by the Sphere to “proclaim the Gospel of Three Dimensions” to his “blind benighted countrymen in Flatland,” After composing a treatise on the mysteries of Three Dimensions, the Square is arrested for heresy and taken before the Flatland Council and President, who condemn him to perpetual imprisonment. Illustrations from Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott