'Three On A Couch' Merges Science and Theatre In Soho

From Bunsen burners to birth control and back off-Broadway, award winning scientist and one of The Times' (London) 30 people who have had the most impact on life in the past millennium is bringing his expertise to the New York stage. Dr. Carl Djerassi, emeritus professor of chemistry at Stanford and renowned inventor of the birth control pill has embarked on a second career in writing including "science-in-fiction" novels, a scientific autobiography and a trilogy of "science-in-theatre" plays.

Carl Djerassi is one of the world's most famous scientists, best known for the synthesis of the Contraceptive Pill, triggering the social revolution of the 1960's. For the past 20 years, Djerassi has been writing on the human aspects of science and was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Nixon at a time when he appeared on Nixon's infamous Enemies list. Djerassi aims to illustrate the human side of real scientists and the conflicts they face in their quest for scientific knowledge, personal recognition, and financial rewards through the rarely used genre of "science-in-fiction" and "science in theatre."

 Redshift Productions' Scientist Studio will present Carl Djerassi's THREE ON A COUCH, directed by Elena Araoz and starring Mark Pinter ("Guiding Light," "Another World"), Brad Frazier (Alice, The Matchmaker) and Lori Funk (Our Country's Good, Spring Awakening). at the SoHo playhouse beginning performances May 29th.

 Comedia meets film noir in this comedy about art and ego when a famous writer, obsessed with reputation fakes his death in order to read his own obituaries. Three On A Couch is a darkly comic exploration into the deepest desires of subconscious, and the absurd circumstances that arise when wants become needs.

Carl Djerassi is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and of its Institute of Medicine, as well as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and several other learned societies. For the first synthesis of a steroid contraceptive, Djerassi received the National Medal of Science (1973), the First Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1978) and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall Of Fame (1978). He received the National Medal of Technology for his contributions in the insect control field (1991). The American Chemical Society honored him with its Award In Pure Chemistry (1958), Baekeland Medal (1959), Fritzsche Award (1960), Award for Creative Invention (1973), Award in the Chemistry of Contemporary Technological Problems (1983), Priestley Medal (1992), Willard Gibbs Medal (1997), and Othmer Gold Medal (2000).

Carl Djerassi has made the leap from a successful scientist to a successful playwright and novelist. I hope you will consider a feature on Carl Djerassi and Redshift Productions' as they bring science and scientists to the NY stage with Three On A Couch.

 

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