This is a brief abstract of the play review composed by David
Goodstein who is vice-provost of CalTech and co-author with
Judith Goodstein of Feynman's Lost Lecture.
It seems like a worthy target for a student trip, for those
in striking distance of LA.
QED is a play about Feynman.
It continues until 13 May at the
Mark Taper Forum,
135 N Grand Avenue,
Los Angeles, CA-90012, USA,
"The play takes place in Feynman's office at
the California Institute of Technology.
"There are lots of good laugh lines, and Alda delivers them
impeccably. There is physics in Alda's long monologue,
enough of it, and done right, to tell the audience that
it was physics that lit Feynman's fire, and the rest was
window dressing.
"There have been important plays written about scientists.
Bertold Brecht's Galileo comes to mind as does In the
Matter of J Robert Oppenheimer by Heinar Kipphardt.
More recently, Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, portrayed
various versions of Werner Heisenberg's visit to Niels Bohr
during the Second World War.
" This is not a play of ideas, but rather a character
sketch. Ah, but what a character! Parnell's QED, as played
by Alan Alda, is a fitting tribute to an old friend of mine
who just happened to be one of the most singular
characters to roam the Earth in the 20th century."
brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net> Altus OK
Eureka!