Re: oxygen, collaboration, production

From: Ricardo Ottoni Vaz Japiassu (rjapias@uol.com.br)
Date: Sun Oct 14 2001 - 17:08:02 PDT


I wish I could go to the show! Or to watch it by net...
Well, some plays are available lively on-line. Is the case of Oxygen?
  -----Mensagem original-----
  De: Bill Barowy <wbarowy@yahoo.com>
  Para: xmca <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
  Data: Domingo, 14 de Outubro de 2001 14:47
  Assunto: oxygen, collaboration, production

  The Scientist 15[20]:16, Oct. 15, 2001
  http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/oct/index_011015.html

    NEWS
    Oxygen: Putting a Human Face on Science
    Renowned chemists advance science through the arts

  By A.J.S. Rayl
    Oxygen--the 'science-in-fiction' play written by chemists Carl Djerassi and
  Roald Hoffmann--will permeate the Royal Institution as it debuts in London
  Oct. 27. With the premiere at the San Diego Repertory Theater in California
  and publication of the play (Wiley-VCH) last Spring, Djerassi, also known as
  'Father of The Pill,' and Nobel laureate Hoffmann garnered kudos from an
  A-list of science 'critics' and respectable notice in theater circles. From
  Nobel laureates Harold Varmus and Murray Gell-Mann to best-selling authors
  Oliver Sacks and Stephen Jay Gould, Oxygen has been heralded as "probing,"
  "thought-provoking," "witty," "an extraordinary tour-de-force."
       The two-act drama is based on the premise that the Nobel Committee has
  decided in this, its centenary year to give the first "retro-Nobel" to the
  discoverer of oxygen. Three chemists, the committee quickly determines, lay a
  claim to that discovery:
           Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, father of the chemical revolution;
           Reverend Joseph Priestley, a founder of the Unitarian Church; and
           Carl Wilhelm Scheele, an unassuming Swedish apothecary.
       Through the trials and tribulations of the three contenders and the
  members of the Nobel Committee, Djerassi and Hoffmann take the audience
  'backstage' for an inside look at the politics and passions in science then
  and now. The play opens in Stockholm, Sweden, 1777 (the year oxygen was
  discovered) and, with a very intentional nod to women, introduces Lavoisier,
  Priestly, and Scheele vicariously through their wives. Scene Two fast-forwards
  to 2001 where the Nobel Committee--led by a woman--sets about the task of
  selecting the recipient(s). From there, the action shifts from one century to
  the other, as the actors, who play dual roles, make seamless costume and
  character changes.
       Djerassi and Hoffmann mix chemistry history with fictional drama as they
  weave the characters' dialogue and emotions around the play's central themes:
  what is discovery and why is it important to be first? The plot, as well as
  the history, is enhanced with audiovisuals projected onto screens onstage, from
  sophisticated drawings of instruments to the piece de résistance--Madame
  Lavoisier's travel chest, a real antique held in Cornell University's
  Lavoisier collection. "The fact is that when you have seen our play you have
  learned something," says Djerassi, "whether you like it or not."
       The authors do take some dramatic license--a particular letter 'found' in
  the travel chest, for example, isn't real--but, by and large, Oxygen plays
  with a genuine ring of truth. Even so, says Djerassi, "Our play should not be
  viewed as a play about history, but about the character and the culture of
  science and scientists."
       It may seem off the bench path for scientists the likes of Djerassi,
  professor of chemistry at Stanford University, and Hoffmann, professor of
  chemistry at Cornell University, to be trying their hands at playwriting--and
  to be trying it together. But for each of them, it's part of the greater plan
  to push science into the mainstream via the arts. They both came to the
  project well-equipped, literarily speaking.
       Hoffmann, known and honored for his contribution to the Woodward-Hoffmann
  Rules, has written three collections of poetry, as well as three nonfiction
  books on chemistry and hosted PBS' The World of Chemistry. Djerassi has spent
  his time away from the bench authoring five novels in the genre he defines as
  'science-in- fiction.' He has also penned several short stories, poems, and
  the recently published nonfiction book, This Man's Pill: Reflections on the
  50th Birthday of The Pill. For Djerassi, Oxygen represents the second of a
  trilogy of "science-in-theater" plays he has planned. Actually, he is now
  devoting much of his life to the pursuit of putting the human face of science
  before the masses and is even teaching a course in Science-in-Fiction at
  Stanford.
       "One of the things we really need to do in the 21st century is humanize
  science and make it part of world culture," says Hoffmann. "We need to talk to
  people about science so they can make intelligent, democratic decisions about
  it. And scientists need to consider the ethical and spiritual dimension of the
  world, if people are to accept their work as being of spiritual as well as
  material value."
       Neither Djerassi nor Hoffmann remembers who originally came up with the
  idea for Oxygen. But they both remember that in case of a "possible divorce,"
  a "pre-nuptial agreement" was in order. In the end, the partnership was "an
  absolute collaboration," says Djerassi. And it took place primarily via E-mail.

       Hoffmann, put his erudite historical perspective on the table and Djerassi
  anted up his expertise in the world of fiction. "With Roald's more romantic
  views of the scientific enterprise and my more brutal views, we really had two
  authorial psychologies operating, and that was the main attraction of the
  collaboration," offers Djerassi. For Hoffmann the main attraction was "seeing
  the ideas take shape through dialogue, and how from the collaboration more
  came out than I could ever have imagined doing myself."
       The timing is as obvious as it is perfect. On Dec. 10, the Nobel
  Foundation will officially celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Nobel
  Prizes. The "retro-Nobel" remains fantasy. "But it's not a bad idea," contends
  Djerassi.
       So who discovered Oxygen? As the play pages turn, the Nobel Committee
  concludes: Scheele discovered it first; Priestley published first, and
  Lavoisier actually understood it first. Who then should get the Prize? Or
  should it go to two of the contenders? Or all three?
       Not even Djerassi and Hoffman could agree. At last count, there were "nine
  endings," says Hoffmann. The only thing that is certain at play's end is this:
  Science has changed the world during the last 200 years, but the scientists,
  the human beings behind the discoveries, have not.
       On Nov. 14, Oxygen moves to the Riverside Studio Theatre in London for a
  three-week run. On Dec. 1-2, the BBC World Service will broadcast a radio
  adaptation of the play, with WDR Radio 3 German broadcasting the first
  performance of the play in German on Dec. 12. A German version, now in
  production in Wuerzburg, will run through the end of the year. Djerassi's
  first play, An Immaculate Misconception, just opened at New York's Primary
  Stages Theatre, where it will run through Oct. 28.

  A.J.S. Rayl (ajsrayl@loop.com) is a contributing editor for The Scientist.

  =====
  "One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly become the author of something beautiful."
  [Norman Maclean in "A river runs through it."]

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