The late, great physicist Richard Feynman is the subject of Peter Parnell’s nearly one-man show, QED, a recent Broadway triumph for Alan Alda in the role of Feynman.
Play title: QED
Author (s): Peter Parnell
Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
Publication Date: 2002
Genre: Drama
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Quantum Mechanics
Scientist (s): Richard Feynman
Source Texts: Inspired by the writings of Richard Feynman, and Ralph Leighton’s Tuva Or Bust!
Character Breakdown: 1 man, 1 woman
Richard Feynman and Miriam Field
Setting: Feynman’s office at Caltech
Time Period: Act One: A Saturday afternoon in June, 1986 Act Two: That Night.
Synopsis of Play: The late, great physicist Richard Feynman is the subject of Peter Parnell’s nearly one-man show, QED, a recent Broadway triumph for Alan Alda in the role of Feynman. Set in Feynman’s office on the weekend in which he discovers he has terminal cancer, this play is a tour-de-force that captures his unique and puckish genius. As we read about his world on the Manhattan Project, his reconstruction of the space shuttle Challenger disaster, and his Nobel Prize-winning quantum electrodynamics theory, as well as the intimate details of Feynman’s personal life, we grow to love the man behind the science. And we read in fascination as he puzzles over the problem of his own death to a powerful conclusion. With a thoughtful foreword from Alda, this is a moving play that is must for science and theatre fans everywhere. (Play text cover blurb Applause Books)
First Performance Date: March 21, 2001
First Producer: Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum
Performance History: QED premiered at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles on March 21, 2001. The production team included: Director: Gordon Davidson, Set Design: Ralph Funicello, Costume Design: Marianna Elliott, Lighting Design: D. Martyn Bookwalter, Sound Design: Jon Gottlieb, Movement: Donald McKayle and Creative consultant: Ralph Leighton.
The play opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, New York City on October 21, 2001.
Links:
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/world/QED01.html
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/578718.Qed
http://www.curtainup.com/qed.html
https://www.its.caltech.edu/~bi/labinger/bookreviews/13plays.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
Entered by: Denise Gillman / Brooke Sanders
