Indra's Net Theatre Presents QED at Berkeley City Club Today

Once again, Indra's Net Theatre proves that science is an immensely dramatic subject. In staging Peter Parnell's "QED" at the Berkeley City Club, Indra's Net and director Bruce Coughran open a window into the eclectic mind of Richard Feynman, the brilliant and supremely witty physicist, teacher, drummer, and one of the fathers of the atomic bomb.

In QED, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman holds forth with captivating wit and wisdom. One of the 20th century's greatest physicists, Feynman was also one of its great eccentrics. Not only did he help develop the atomic bomb and quantum electrodynamics (the "QED" of the title), he also played the bongos, frequented topless bars, was obsessed with the tiny country of Tuva, and loved his bit parts in amateur theatricals. New York Magazine called QED "a seductive mix of science, human affections, moral courage, and comic eccentricity."

Alan Alda drew rave reviews when he originated the role in Los Angeles, but Indra's Net Theater seeks to not just reproduce that success, but also to take the play into new territory. "I think we are going to take a little different direction from the LA and New York versions." says director Bruce Coughran. "Feynman had a taste for the exotic and the esoteric, and I think we will follow that thread a little further, and maybe get in a little deeper, and get under the skin a little more. I am excited to work with this play that features such a fascinating and influential main character, and to explore it with these wonderful actors."

Cast in the role of Feynman is Jeff Garrett, an actor with a solid reputation whose local credits include Scrooge, the Haunting of Ebenezer, Assassins at Shotgun Players, and playing the Marque de Sade in Marat Sade at Thrillpeddlers in San Francisco. His extensive work in New York includes several shows at Circle in the Square and the WPA Theater. Also featured is local favoriteKendra Lee Oberhauser, as Miriam Field.

"The second act is about the personal life of everybody in the auidience, not just Feynman's life alone. It's also theirs." - Alan Alda