The world premiere of acclaimed actor/writer Alan Alda's Radiance: The
Passion of Marie Curie, a bioplay about the passions and conflicts of the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, will feature Anna Gunn as the title character. Gunn has previously appeared at the Geffen Playhouse in the world premiere of Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still and is most recognized by television audiences for her role on AMC's Breaking Bad. Joining Gunn on stage is tv/film star Annabeth Gish (Mystic Pizza, X-Files), John de Lancie, best known to Star Trek fans as "Q," and acclaimed stage actors Hugo Armstrong, Don Donohue, Leonard Kelly- Young and Sarah Zimmerman. Helmed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie opens in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse on November 9, 2011.
Timed perfectly with the 100th anniversary of Madame Curie's second Nobel Prize as well as the first International Year of Chemistry, Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie delves into the life and romance of one of the most brilliant female scientists in history. Famous for her groundbreaking research in radioactivity, Curie was the only person ever to win two Nobel Prizes in multiple sciences, but not without a struggle. For all the answers that come to her in the lab, Curie's life is peppered with questions of how to realize the passion she has for both knowledge and love. Celebrated but then rejected by the popular press as both a woman and scientist, Curie is left to define her place in society - and history - on her own terms.
"Marie Curie has been alive in my head for the last four years while I've been writing this play, and to see these brilliant actors make Marie and her world burst into life on the stage is staggering for me," said playwright Alan Alda. "It was a deeply emotional and very intelligent world they inhabited and this company, under Dan Sullivan's direction, brings a dream of mine into reality. I love it."
The Geffen Playhouse run marks the world premiere of this production. Festivities during the run of Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie include the theater's special Signature Series options for no additional cost. These evenings include an intellectual, thought-provoking post show Q&A at Talk Back Tuesdays; a scintillating, one-of-a kind afterparty at Girls Night Out; a cultural happy hour with Lounge Fridays and complimentary wine tastings during Wine Down Sundays. For more information, please view www.geffenplayhouse.com/radianceevents. In addition, the Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates have created a special companion show entitled Brilliance! for children age five to 11, which will run on the Radiance set in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater for four Saturdays at 11am from November 12 - December 10, 2011. For more information on Brilliance!, please visit www.geffenplayhouse.com/brilliance.