PYGmalion Theatre Company Opens Season With THE HALF-LIFE OF MARIE CURIE in November

PYGmalion Theatre Company will open its 2023/2024 season with "The Half-Life of Marie Curie" by Lauren Gunderson, directed by Fran Pruyn, from Nov. 3 to Nov. 18 at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts located at 138 West Broadway in downtown Salt Lake City.

The show features Stephanie Howell as Marie Curie and April Fossen as Hertha Ayrton. 

In 1911, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium. By 1912, she was the object of ruthless gossip over an alleged affair with the married Frenchman Paul Langevin, all but erasing her achievements from public memory. Weakened and demoralized by the press lambasting her as a “foreign" Jewish temptress and a homewrecking traitor, Marie agrees to join her friend and colleague Hertha, an electromechanical engineer and suffragette, and recover from the scandal at Hertha's seaside retreat on the British coast.

"The Half-Life of Marie Curie" revels in the power of female friendship as it explores the relationship between these two brilliant women, both of whom are mothers, widows, and fearless champions of scientific inquiry.

Director Pruyn explained how the show came about. 

"Tamara Howell (actor, director and PYGmalion board member) brought it to us, and it is everything that PYGmalion likes to do: a small show that tells a story about important women and their contributions to the world, as well as their personal struggles and successes along the way," she said. 

She also talked about why she wanted to direct the show. 

"Lauren Gunderson is a masterful playwright, (and I believe currently the most produced American playwright)," she said. "Her dialogue, her characters and their relationship, is sharp, witty and timeless. I have two excellent and experienced actors playing the roles.  What could be more fun?"

Howell spoke about why she wanted to be in the show.  

"I love Gunderson’s fast-paced dialogue and the way she so deftly weaves together humor and history and the occasional emotional wallop," she said. "The incredible friendship between these strong, brilliant, and imperfect women makes for a gem of a story." 

She also talked about what she's looking forward to as rehearsals begin and how she's preparing for the role. 

"I’m a fan of the unexpected details that emerge in the rehearsal room," she said. "I’m looking forward to finding those as we play with the multiple layers of these characters and their relationship. There’s so much material available on Marie Curie! It’s been fun to dive into her life story through various biographies, letters she wrote, photographs, and even a bit of video." 

Fossen, who is working on a full-length play with Howell for the first time, added:  "I am particularly looking forward to working on the relationship of these two women. The script is so beautifully written and there's so much in it to explore. I have done a little dialect brushing up, a little reading up on Hertha. But mostly, I'm just readying myself to be present and available to do the work the play deserves."

She also spoke about why the show appealed to her. 

"This show appealed to me because I love female-centered stories that also address universal ideas," Fossen said. "Stories that aren't just about the experience of being a woman (although that's important as well) but about being human -- being frail and brilliant and strong and foolish, sometimes all at once. Also when Fran came to me about it she said Stephanie was playing Marie and I couldn't pass up the chance to do a two-hander with her."

Pruyn also explained why she feels this is an important story to tell now. 

"Women have made contribution to STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) for centuries -- and are just beginning to get recognition for it, and being encouraged to go into the field," she said. "These are two women that were friends, that faced opposition because of their sex by the scientific communities, and yet provided the world with wondrous (and terrible) innovation. It is always important to understand that science is a non-gendered discipline… I am hopeful that a new generation of scientists come to the show. 

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