Theatre South Carolina

Playwright will help celebrate Theatre South Carolina’s season premiere

By Kathy Henry Dowell

Theatre South Carolina’s first play of the season

To read an independent review of this production, click here.

is a swirling, colorful, thought-provoking blend of science, art, and philosophy. It seems only fitting that the College of Science and Math, along with the College of Liberal Arts, are generously co-sponsoring the production.

Don’t be concerned if you’re not familiar with The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer. USC’s production is only the third time the play has ever been produced. In recognition of the Columbia premiere, playwright Carson Kreitzer will be at USC for a panel discussion shortly before the play begins its run.

Carson Kreitzer

Kreitzer’s play may be new, but it is not unnoticed. The play was the winner of the 2003 Rosenthal New Play Prize at the Cincinnati Playhouse, the Barry Stavis Award, and the National Theatre Critics' Steinberg New Play Citation, and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

“The play is historical, but with an attitude,” said Jim Hunter, theatre department chair and artistic director. “It’s a biographical play about Robert J. Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb during World War II and later a security risk because of his Communist ties. He was a leading physicist and a fascinating man who spoke 17 languages, learned Sanskrit, was interested in Hinduism, and was very well read. He especially enjoyed the poetry of T.S. Eliot and John Dunne. In fact, the title of the play is a direct reference to Eliot’s poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, and Oppenheimer quotes Prufrock during the play.”

If you go. .

What: Panel discussion, “Quest and Consequences: Reflections on Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb,” with playwright Carson Kreitzer, Notre Dame professor of philosophy Don Howard, and USC President Emeritus John M. Palms. Palms served at Los Alamos after the World War II era and his science work focuses on the effects of radioactivity on people and the environment.

When: 5:30 p.m., Sept. 30

Where: Drayton Hall

Admission: Free and open to the public

In Kreitzer’s play, Oppenheimer relives his life from its rise to its fall. He is goaded along the way by Lilith, a made-up character who is the personification of a strong woman who speaks truths. Lilith never touches the ground in the play; she appears live on a monitor, and via video, and in person climbing a fence on stage.

Guest actor Don Mackay will play Oppenheimer. Mackay has performed with the Utah Shakespearean Festival and has a recurring role on the television comedy Scrubs. MFA candidate Bethany Ford will play Lilith. MFA candidate Mary Floyd will play wife Kitty Oppenheimer. Jim O’Connor, former artistic director of the theatre department, will direct.

9/04