Radiance - The Passion of Marie Curie

When her beloved Pierre dies in an accident, Marie is plunged into depression

Paul Langevin, fleeing an unhappy marriage, gives her the strength to return to her work

But the scandal over their affair threatens to end her career just when she might become the first person ever to receive a second Nobel Prize

"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

Characters

MARIE CURIE - Early 40s; slight Polish accent
PAUL LANGEVIN - A little younger than Marie
PIERRE CURIE - A little older than Marie
JEANNE LANGEVIN - 30s
ÉMILE BOREL - 40s; a mathematician
MARGUERITE BOREL - 20s; a novelist
CAN BE PLAYED BY THE SAME ACTOR: TERBOUGIE - 50s; a journalist; can be played by the same actor who plays TÖRNEBLADH
TÖRNEBLADH - 50s; a scientist; Swedish accent; can be played by the same actor who plays TERBOUGIE
SECONDS AT A DUEL
STUDENTS

Set & Staging

The actors in the company are seated on a bare stage, taking in the action of the play. When their turn comes to play a scene, they rise, meet downstage and play it

Images suggesting various locations are projected on the upstage wall

The only furniture is a set of straight-backed chairs and occasionally a bed and a small table, all brought into play by the actors