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.