“QED,” a play by playwright Peter Parnell about Richard Feynman (1918-1988), popularizer of science and one of the best-known physicists in the world, will be presented in a theater-in-the-round setting Sept. 23 to Oct. 10 at Northwestern University.
Performances are free and open to the public and will be held at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays in the Jerome B. Cohen Commons (fourth floor) of the Technological Institute, 2145 Sheridan Road. Reservations for “QED” are highly recommended and can be made by calling 847-324-3298 or by visiting www.etopia.northwestern.edu.
Mr. Feynman was a storyteller ex-traordinaire, prankster, nanotechnology visionary, bongo player, prolific author and atomic bomb pioneer. He also was a lifelong advocate of creativity and originality in science and an inspiration to young scientists the world over.
The play provides an intimate portrait of Mr. Feynman while reliving a day in his life. He speaks directly to the audience, regaling everyone with entertaining stories and sharing details of the eclectic hobbies, quirks and curiosities that made him such a special character in 20th-century science.
“Feynman could take scientific concepts and boil them down to one essential element that everyone could understand,” said Matthew Grayson, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and organizer of “QED” at Northwestern.
“Some of his biggest fans were the scientists whose science he was translating. It’s fitting that we are featuring him as part of our initiative to popularize and communicate science to the public.”
The presentation of this play is part of ETOPiA: Engineering Transdisciplinary Outreach Project in the Arts, an outreach initiative at McCormick, whose goal is to inspire a cross-disciplinary dialogue about the role of science and technology in society.