ONE IN TWENTY-FIVE World Premiere to be Presented at Theater For The New City

“One in Twenty-Five,” a new play that dramatizes one of the most consequential moments in American scientific history will receive its world premiere at Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival 2025. “One in Twenty-Five,” written, produced, and performed Thomas M. Copeland, dramatizes with intellectual flair the 1986 testimony of an in-over-their-head NASA Acting Administrator navigating a political inquiry curated to protect the government's interests in the weeks following the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

Told in real-time over the course of a single public hearing, the Rogers Commission soon turns on its head as one scientist uses the Administrator's own words to undermine and contradict NASA's face-saving attempt to brush away the disaster as simply a cost of doing business. Drawing directly from public records and NASA archives, Copeland skillfully fictionalizes the tension between science, politics, and institutional accountability culminating in a showdown on NASA's culture of risk and denial.

“One in Twenty-Five” is a story about responsibility, truth, and the cost of assumption. At a time when public trust in science and institutions is under renewed scrutiny, the play revisits a moment when evidence spoke louder than politics—and a physicist reminded the world that nature cannot be fooled.

The cast includes Chris Jaymes (Deliver me From Nothing, In Memory of my Father, LOST), Paul Albe (To Kill a Mockingbird at Papermill Playhouse, The Sopranos, Sex and the City), and Copeland (Deathtrap, God of Carnage, and the upcoming Netflix film Don't Say Good Luck). The show is directed by Nick Browne (Directing Observer on Swept Away, Midnight Coleslaw's Tales from Beyond the Closet!!!)

“Challenger exploded because no one at NASA listened to each other,” Copeland notes in his author's notes in the playscript. “Feynman didn't just explain the physics of what went wrong—he exposed the silence” says Copeland on the real-life Dr. Richard P. Feynman, a lead character in the play.

“One in Twenty-Five” will be presented by Crystal Field (Artistic Director) as part of Theater for the New City's 2025 Dream Up Festival, known for showcasing bold, thought-provoking new works by emerging and established playwrights. The production will be staged under the AEA Showcase Code and will feature a limited run with select talkbacks and community engagement events following performances.