A poster for the play.
The Theater
The South Coast Repertory is a very nice new theater that is surrounded by other concert halls and art installations. To the left of the theater and down the road, there are more new buildings surrounded by outdoor cafes, fountains, hedge mazes, large iron obelisks, and much more. Everything was very clean, bright, and well maintained. In addition to this, tickets were only around $20. I ended up sitting in the first row of the balcony, which gave me a great view of the stage. The setting is quite intimate as the theater is relatively small, so you feel very close to the actors and as if you yourself are immersed within the story.
This morning, as I was eating my breakfast, my Dad handed me a couple of haphazard newspaper pages that were folded over one another. They were from the Los Angeles Times, and detailed a play called ‘Photograph 51’, which centers around Rosalind Franklin and her contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA. It was being put on by the South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa tonight at 7:45. My sister and I, both avid fans of Franklin, eagerly agreed to go, and my family made an excursion out of it. The play certainly did not disappoint.
The front of the theater.
The Show
‘Photograph 51’ begins with Rosalind Franklin coming to work with Maurice Wilkins at Kings College London in the early 50s. She is met with all the obstacles women in STEM at the time faced, and even more since she is Jewish. The play makes a decent amount of references to her Jewish-ness, with characters such as Wilkins and Caspar saying things about ‘her kind’ this, and ‘her kind’ that. Besides that, certain post-war attitudes are apparent, with many references to atomic weaponry and nuclear physics as well. The play follows through her journey to photograph DNA, and includes 6 characters total including Franklin herself. There is Maurice Wilkins, the stern project commander who becomes infatuated with Franklin(secretly), as time goes on. Then there are Watson and Crick, the dynamic and evil duo who will eventually take unapologetic credit for a discovery Franklin played a large part of. Finally, there is Don Caspar and Ray Gosling, two PhD students who are climbing the scientific ladder. Gosling’s role is mostly that of comedic relief, whereas Caspar serves as at first a loyal fan of Franklin’s, and towards the end a close confidant. Throughout the play, these 5 men interact with Franklin and play out what happened over the years as they fought over techniques and hypotheses. The play ends with Franklin dying of ovarian cancer that was spurred on by the radiation she was exposed to in the lab, and with Wilkins wondering what could have been.
The stage from the balcony.
One point I would like to touch on is the brilliance of the set. Hanging above the stage was a hollow square whose perimeter gave off bright light, which was switched from blue to yellow at specific points in the play to signify importance changes and realizations. On the stage below was a wooden floor that was sunk into the ground with the same perimeter of light. Around the edge of the wood were glass panels over black metal bars. In each of the far corners were upholstered benches that also served as storage for the minimal props that were used. I say that this is brilliant because the play was essentially going on inside of the camera Franklin used. Streaming down from the ceiling is the light, and on the stage, made with the direction of the grain of the wood flooring, is the diffraction pattern. The audience is essentially watching Franklin’s life radiate out on the stage, just as the X-ray beams radiated out and showed themselves on the picture.
An article within the program, and my ticket.
Besides the stage, I really enjoyed the power with which the actors spoke. The emotion they imbued in the audience was palpable, and made moments like when Rosalind spoke of being in the Swiss Alps magical, and moments like when she realized she was ill, gut-wrenching. Additionally, I like that the props used were constrained to glasses, lab coats, the occasional DNA model, and the photos. It kept the story easy to follow, and kept my mind focused on the relationships between the 6 people on stage.
Besides Franklin shining, Wilkins was a character I hadn’t expected to warm up to. Surely at times he is very severe, but in a way the care and respect that he holds for Franklin really shines through by the end of the play. The care with which Caspar treats Franklin was also quite moving. The evolution of their relationship is defined in the diction that is used in their exchanges; Franklin goes from being curt and cordial to warm and open.
Finally, I think the way Franklin was written was quite beautiful. There are very extreme moments, in which she seems like Steve Jobs; cut-throat, and willing to die for her research(which she inevitably does. This is then juxtaposed with wonderful moments of humanity, such as the wistful comments that trail at the end of her letters with Caspar, or her admittance to being scared that she is not doing the right thing with her life. Especially for women in STEM, there is definitely an internal struggle as to how one is ‘supposed’ to behave. On one hand, there is an urge to be headstrong and confident, fearless and a lone wolf. On the other hand, science is a collaborative effort, and it is enticing to be vulnerable, and honest. But, when historical precedent is taken into account, being vulnerable and honest have become synonymous with weakness. To see Rosalind go through this internal struggle on stage was refreshing, and a reminder that I think I needed. Asking for help or admitting you were wrong is not a weakness. Being confident in yourself is OK and can give you strength.
Overall I really enjoyed the play, and would recommend it to everyone. For people who are interested in the science, or for people who are not interested in the science, I think that this play has a message that can appeal to everyone. Or, if plays aren’t your thing, a simple glance at Franklin’s Wikipedia page(Link), might give you something to think about.
I continue on the topic of women in STEM in a ‘Thoughts’ post here(titled, ‘Photograph 51: Reflecting on the Plight of Women in STEM’).