Alces Productions presents
The UK Premiere of
Cathy Tyson is
the perfect Madame Curie. With no wig, barely any
makeup and a plain frock, she somehow manages to be
every photograph or print we've seen of the woman
and she dominates from the first moment on stage
ChiswickW4.com
With a stunning
performance from Tyson, this play explores the way
in which Marie’s personal life mirrored the famous
dichotomy of her professional one. What inspired and
drove Marie was the very thing, which led to her
undoing -
an expansive and enlightening production.
Afridiziak
Alan Alda with
the cast on the Tabard stage
(Taken 11 Feb 2015)
In the intellectual and creative ferment of early 20th
century Paris, Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre,
struggle through endless hours of physically
dangerous work in order to master the secrets of
radiation. Reaching a remarkable breakthrough, they
share a Nobel Prize, the first ever granted to a
woman. But the world isn’t fully ready to accept
Marie’s incredible achievement. After Pierre’s
death, a love affair with the brilliant, unhappily
married physicist Paul Langevin rescues her from
depression, but at the cost of a public scandal. It
threatens to end Marie’s career just when she might
be awarded an unprecedented second Nobel Prize.
Legendary 7-time Emmy
Award-winning actor, screenwriter and bestselling
author Alan Alda, in his first full-length stage
drama, beautifully captures the emotional turmoil of
a woman forced to choose between love and her life’s
work.
An intriguing perspective
on the life of one of science’s most significant
minds
The Stage
Following on from its world
premiere in Los Angeles, RADIANCE: The Passion of
Marie Curie is brought to the Tabard by veteran
New York and London producer/director Mark Giesser,
whose three previous Tabard productions received
extensive critical acclaim.
Cathy Tyson, who starred alongside Bob Hoskins in
the award winning film Mona Lisa, plays Marie
Cure and said: “It’s exciting. It’s challenging and
I’m looking forward to the period costume. Her drive
and passion interests me. Even today it’s still
difficult for women in certain areas to flourish.
And there’s romance — I’ve played very few romantic
roles.”
The Band of Gold and Emmerdale star
also said it was great that producer and director
Mark Giesser had adopted colour-blind casting: “I
look nothing like her. They just want the right
person for the job.”
The press on RADIANCE: The
Passion of Marie Curie
‘Juicy, gaslit melodrama …
illuminates the challenges that Marie Curie faced in
pursuing a career in the sciences at a time when it
was virtually unheard of for women to take prominent
roles in academic or public life.’ The New York
Times
‘Alan Alda has written an
intelligent, lively play about the first female
professor at the University of Paris and the first
person to receive two Nobel Prizes. … In his debut
as a playwright, Alda shows he has a talent for
words.’ Examiner.com
‘Alda’s sharply written script
shines a light on the precarious nature of love and
marriage, set against the backdrop of remarkable
discoveries in science.’ Theatermania
‘This is a fine play … The
luminous subject alone should get you to the
theatre.’
LA Arts Beat
“Radiance: The Passion of Marie
Curie”
is presented by
special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD
Casting by Richard Evans CDG
.