stories

A play by Peter Goodchild based on original sources and trial transcripts. The Scopes Trial concerned the right to teach evolution in public schools and reaffirmed the importance of intellectual freedom as codified in the Bill of Rights. The trial, in a small-town Tennessee courtroom in 1925, set the stage for ongoing debates over the separation of Church and State in a democratic society: a debate that continues to this day.

"The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial" stars Edward Asner, John de Lancie, and Jerry Hardin, with Matthew Patrick Davis, Geoffrey Lower, Kenneth Alan Williams, Harry Groener, Michael Rugnetta, James Gleason, Bill Brochtrup, and Kyle Colerider-Krugh. The narrator is Marnie Mosiman. Our director is Brendon Fox. Producing Director Susan Albert Loewenberg.

This play is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Lead funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, bridging science and the arts in the modern world.

The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial (Part One)

An enigmatic young woman. A manipulative sister. Their brilliant father. An unexpected suitor. One life-altering question. The search for the truth behind a mysterious mathematical proof is the perplexing problem in David Auburn’s dynamic play. Proof won both a Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Includes interviews with neuropsychologist Dr. Carrie Bearden of UCLA about mental illness, and with Steven Strogatz, Professor at Cornell University’s School of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics, about gender bias in the field of math.

Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles in January 2003.


Proof is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Lead funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, bridging science and the arts in the modern world.

Directed by Jenny Sullivan
Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg

Anne Heche as Catherine
Jeremy Sisto as Hal
Robert Foxworth as Robert
Kaitlin Hopkins as Claire

Proof (Part 1)

BBC Radio 4, 29 March 2012
 
This charming production had the grown-up son of Jack Leach (Ian McDiarmid) looking back on his childhood, at a time in 1947 when life in his Gloucestershire village was spartan, to say the least. Rationing was still in full force; and very few of the men had returned from battle, leaving the community almost exclusively peopled by women and children.
 
Into this community came a group of travelling nuns, including Mireille (Niamh Cusack), who befriends the boy (Jo Joyce-Venables) and gives him some feeling of self-belief. Then an anonymous man (Tom Goodman-Hill) also comes; he is badly injured, but Mireille and the boy nurse him back to health, largely out of side of the rest of the villagers. The man has a secret about the boy's personal life - which will prove devastasting for the boy's future - but this is mitigated by one ambition: the man wants to fly. In the end the man achieves his wish, but not in a way that anyone expects.
 
The Man With Wings recalls an era that few remember with any affection; even though Britain has ostensibly won the war, the people had to endure severe shortages and bad weather. Men were supposed to be demobilized, but for some reason they remained on active service. However dramatist Rachel Joyce shows how even the most mundane aspects of life can be overcome through the power of the imagination; if you believe with sufficient conviction that something unexpected might happen, then your wishes just might come true.
 
Ian McDiarmid narrated the story in nostalgic tones; this was obviously something that would stay with him throughout his life. Niamh Cusack's Mireille retained her generosity of spirit, even though life had been generally unkind to her. By doing so she was able to achieve her wishes. The mood of Gordon House's production was greatly enhanced by Lucinda Mason Brown's melodies. 

The Man With Wings by Rachel Joyce- Radio Drama - BBC Radio 4

Fenian - 1-Diarmuid - And - Gráinne

L.A. Theatre Works records plays live in performance. We stage our shows in an audio-friendly format, so actors speak directly into microphones while we add sound effects and music to create an immersive audio experience.

We've recorded over 500 plays in this way - everything from Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde to Arthur Miller and recent Tony winners - and turn the recordings into podcasts, streaming audio, radio shows, and CD’s, so you can listen to great theater anywhere.

Because of our unique format, we attract a lot of top-name talent: our actors have included Chris Rock, Bobby Cannavale, Jane Kaczmarek, Kathleen Turner, Simon Helberg, Amber Tamblyn, Dana Delany, Stacy Keach, Jon Hamm, Matthew Rhys, Alfred Molina, Jonathan Groff...and an ever-expanding list of stars from TV, stage, and film.

Proof (Part 1)

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