He is an 83-year-old cosmologist whose
pioneering work on the Big Bang theory went largely unrecognized.
She is a young, prolific
playwright who wanted to create a play about a scientist who never received due
credit.
Soon, they will meet for a staged
reading of Background, a one-act play
about the life and career of Ralph Alpher, Union's distinguished research
professor of physics emeritus, written by Lauren Gunderson, 22, whose acclaimed
play took form in a freshman seminar at Emory University.
Directed by William
Finlay, the play will be read by professional actors on Thursday, April 8, at 7 p.m. in Union's Yulman
Theater. Tickets are free. The performance is sponsored by the Hewlett
Foundation.
Fifty-six years ago, as a young
doctoral student, Alpher wrote the first mathematical model for the creation of
the universe and predicted the discovery of cosmic background radiation that
proves the Big Bang theory.
Though his work was celebrated at
the time – 300 people, including reporters, packed the hall at George
Washington University
for his dissertation defense – it was largely forgotten afterward. Decades
later, two radio astronomers tuning their equipment stumbled on proof of
Alpher's background radiation. They got the credit – and the Nobel Prize.
Fascinated by an article on Alpher
in Discover magazine (July 1999),
Gunderson asked her professor if she could write a play instead of a term
paper. The result is an award-winning play about Alpher's life and his quest for
scientific credit. Using sparse dialogue, pauses and metaphor, the play moves
backward in time to mimic the study of cosmology. There are four characters –
Alpher, his wife, his daughter and a narrator who also portrays minor
characters.
While doing research, Gunderson
called Alpher to ask him the main question she had on her mind in developing
the play: “Would you have done anything differently?”
“Yes,” he said. “I would have
worked harder to get the credit I deserved.”
To Gunderson, she said, “it would
be like having my play go to Broadway and seeing someone else's name in the
program.”
Gunderson said that just talking
to Alpher helped her to understand his character: “It was mainly the directness
of his voice,” she recalls. “He is very clear and very concise. You can tell a
lot about a person by how they speak and what they communicate.”
The reading of Background on April 8 will be the first
time the scientist and playwright have met.
Alpher, who retired as research
professor at Union and administrator of Dudley
Observatory, is a regular visitor at Union's physics
department, where his former colleagues recently gave him a birthday party.
Last fall, he read his own part in a staged reading of Background at the retirement community where he lives with his
wife, Louise, and a number of retired area scientists.
Gunderson's early success has
included performances of her work on high-profile stages. In 2002, her play Parts
They Call Deep was a winner in the national Young Playwrights Festival
competition founded by Stephen Sondheim and was one of only three winners
selected for full productions off-Broadway at the Cherry
Lane Theater
as part of the festival. Gunderson has had other plays produced, including
short plays at PushPush Theatre in Atlanta
and as part of the New York
10-Minute Play Fest. One of her plays is a finalist for the Heidemann Award for
10-minute plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Background has just won
the 2004 Essential Theatre Playwriting Award, making Gunderson the first
two-time winner of the award. (Her play Parts They Call Deep was a
recipient in 2001). The new play was produced as part of Essential Theatre's
2004 Festival of New American Theatre in February. It was performed at City
University of New York last year.
Staged reading of Background, Thursday, April 8, 7 p.m., Yulman Theater. Free. Sponsored by Hewlett Foundation. For more information, call 388-6131.
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