The Half Life of Marie Curie is a play that celebrates female friendship and feminism while shining a light on one of the darker parts of the famed scientist’s life.
Written by award-winning playwright Lauren Gunderson, it’s now being brought to life on the stage of Penticton’s Tempest Theatre.
Artistic Director of the Tempest Theatre, Kate Twa takes on the role of one of the most famous scientists in the world, Marie Curie.
“Known in popular culture as the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize (and in fact, she won two), The Half Life of Marie Curie delves into some of the personal and political aspects of this eminent scientist’s life. The story begins at a point where, weakened and demoralized by a scandal,” states a press release from the Tempest Theatre.
The play begins while Curie visits a friend, Hertha Aryton, in England.
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“It’s her lowest moment she has just been announced that she’s won her second Nobel Prize,” said Twa. “But, she’s been asked not to go to the ceremony because she’s just been involved in a scandal, an affair with a married man which did not scandalize him. It’s scandalized her and threatened to ruin her life and there are mobs outside her house.”
Taking on the role of her confidant and fellow woman of science, Hertha Aryton is Denise Kenney.
“Everyone knows about Marie Curie I don’t know of anybody that knew about Hertha Aryton,” said Kenney. “She was an electro-mechanical engineer and a suffragette and she fought hard for women’s rights and she had like 26 patents to her name.”
Aryton was also a mathematician. In the play, the audience meets her as a true friend of Curie’s.
“I don’t know what would’ve happened to Marie if Hertha hadn’t come along,” said Twa.
“Because of the scandal people were abandoning her and she was tainted but Hertha didn’t care. She was a friend and she was a force to be reckoned with.”
You can experience the The Half Life of Marie Curie yourself at the Tempest Theatre in Penticton April 20-22. For ticket information visit www.tempest.ca
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