By Larry Taylor/Garden Grove Journal
Science is at the heart of two upcoming plays at South Coast Repertory.
First, “Silent Sky,” Lauren Gunderson’s newly commissioned play, opens this weekend, playing through May 1. A true story, it deals with a female astronomer whose research in the early 1900s altered the world’s conception about the solar system.
The play deals with Henrietta Leavitt (Monette Magrath), a Massachusetts pastor’s daughter who leaves her home for a job at Harvard University’s Observatory. Despite her lowly position and limited access to scientific equipment, she makes an amazing discovery.
On the job, she meets Peter Shaw (Nick Toren), an astronomer’s apprentice. He makes her re-think her vow never to marry.
In this production, directed by Anne Justine D’Zmura, intriguing questions are raised: Will Henrietta’s fragile health hold until she gets scientific evidence of her discovery; will family obligations keep her from marrying the man she loves?
The cast includes a mix of fresh faces. Magrath is making her debut at SCR. She has performed at regional theaters across the country and recently appeared on several episodes of Showtime’s “Weeds.” She is joined by Toren (Broadway’s The Elephant Man) and Erin Cottrell (“Guiding Light”), who plays Henrietta’s musically talented sister, Margaret.
Following, on April 17, megabytes and microbes collide in Itamar Moses’ “Completeness,” a romantic comedy about the budding relationship between a pair of science geeks, This production will be a world premiere, playing through May 8 on the Argyros Stage.
In this, a humorous question is raised: How does a computer scientist hook up with a molecular biologist? He uses the algorithm method, of course (ba da bing ba da boom!). But when Elliot offers to build a computer program to help Molly with her research, they discover that megabytes and microbes might not be compatible — and even the most sophisticated algorithm may freeze in the face of life’s infinite possibilities.
The couple at the heart of this dilemma are grad students. Elliott (Karl Miller), a computer scientist, is searching for an answer to an elusive problem, while Molly (Mandy Siegfried) is a microbiologist studying protein interactions. A chance meeting in the library leads to a scientific collaboration that turns romantic. But they soon realize that love is more complex than any scientific problem.
This is Moses second play at SCR, his first being 2006’s “Bach at Leipzig.” Audience regulars here also know the work of director Pam MacKinnon. She was in charge of “Becky Shaw” earlier this season,” as well as “Our Mother’s Brief Affair” in 2009.
Actor Siegfried, has recently appeared on Broadway and originated the role of Molly in last year’s SCR Pacific Playwrights Festival reading of the play. Miller is new to SCR, but won the 2010 Helen Hayes Award for Forum Theatre’s “Angels in America” in New York.
Playing the various ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends who complicate Molly and Elliott’s relationship are Brooke Bloom (SCR’s Hamlet and “A Feminine Ending”) and Johnathan McClain (TV’s “Retired at 35”).
Director MacKinnon says: “These are smart, smart people. Very analytical. There’s something in their DNA that has them always looking for answers. But love isn’t something that can be solved, and that makes for delicious comedy.”
BY LARRY TAYLOR
Science is at the heart of two upcoming plays at South Coast Repertory
First, “Silent Sky,” Lauren Gunderson’s newly commissioned play, opens this weekend, playing through May 1. A true story, it deals with a female astronomer whose research in the early 1900s altered the world’s conception about the solar system.
The play deals with Henrietta Leavitt (Monette Magrath), a Massachusetts pastor’s daughter who leaves her home for a job at Harvard University’s Observatory. Despite her lowly position and limited access to scientific equipment, she makes an amazing discovery.
On the job, she meets Peter Shaw (Nick Toren), an astronomer’s apprentice. He makes her re-think her vow never to marry.
In this production, directed by Anne Justine D’Zmura, intriguing questions are raised: Will Henrietta’s fragile health hold until she gets scientific evidence of her discovery; will family obligations keep her from marrying the man she loves?
The cast includes a mix of fresh faces. Magrath is making her debut at SCR. She has performed at regional theaters across the country and recently appeared on several episodes of Showtime’s “Weeds.” She is joined by Toren (Broadway’s The Elephant Man) and Erin Cottrell (“Guiding Light”), who plays Henrietta’s musically talented sister, Margaret.
Following, on April 17, megabytes and microbes collide in Itamar Moses’ “Completeness,” a romantic comedy about the budding relationship between a pair of science geeks, This production will be a world premiere, playing through May 8 on the Argyros Stage.
In this, a humorous question is raised: How does a computer scientist hook up with a molecular biologist? He uses the algorithm method, of course (ba da bing ba da boom!). But when Elliot offers to build a computer program to help Molly with her research, they discover that megabytes and microbes might not be compatible — and even the most sophisticated algorithm may freeze in the face of life’s infinite possibilities.
The couple at the heart of this dilemma are grad students. Elliott (Karl Miller), a computer scientist, is searching for an answer to an elusive problem, while Molly (Mandy Siegfried) is a microbiologist studying protein interactions. A chance meeting in the library leads to a scientific collaboration that turns romantic. But they soon realize that love is more complex than any scientific problem.
This is Moses second play at SCR, his first being 2006’s “Bach at Leipzig.” Audience regulars here also know the work of director Pam MacKinnon. She was in charge of “Becky Shaw” earlier this season,” as well as “Our Mother’s Brief Affair” in 2009.
Actor Siegfried, has recently appeared on Broadway and originated the role of Molly in last year’s SCR Pacific Playwrights Festival reading of the play. Miller is new to SCR, but won the 2010 Helen Hayes Award for Forum Theatre’s “Angels in America” in New York.
Playing the various ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends who complicate Molly and Elliott’s relationship are Brooke Bloom (SCR’s Hamlet and “A Feminine Ending”) and Johnathan McClain (TV’s “Retired at 35”).
Director MacKinnon says: “These are smart, smart people. Very analytical. There’s something in their DNA that has them always looking for answers. But love isn’t something that can be solved, and that makes for delicious comedy.”
