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"QED' at Lantern Theater
Jim Rutter
Cliff Notes on the life of a genius
JIM RUTTER
“What we know” is not only the title of a lecture being prepared by the late American physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988), the central character in Peter Parnell’s QED; it’s also a fair question regarding the real life of Richard Feynman himself, who won a Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work in quantum electrodynamics. From his early involvement in developing the atomic bomb to his final assistance solving the Challenger disaster, Feynman took part in some of the 20th Century’s most momentous events. In addition to the writings he left behind, Feynman’s lectures survive today in both audio and video formats, and many of his interviews are freely available online. What we know about Richard Feynman is deep.
This is the principal problem with QED, the (essentially) one-man show in production at the Lantern Theater through December 3rd. From the initial moment that Feynman bursts onto stage, beating a drum in preparation for his role as Chief Bali Hai in South Pacific, this play reveals little and dramatizes even less. While it’s often funny and highly engaging, QED plays merely like the extremely plagiarized cliff notes of Feynman’s life.
What a talented actor can achieve
Nevertheless, this show is worth seeing for several reasons, chief among them to witness what a talented actor can achieve with the role. In this respect, the Lantern made no mistake in casting Peter DeLaurier. Beyond his remarkable physical resemblance to Feynman, DeLaurier entertains us wildly as he captures the level of charisma and animation, the intensity and sheer zest for living that Feynman exhibited throughout his life. Moreover, director Kathryn Nocero modulates the impact of DeLaurier’s performance with impeccable timing, deftly enabling him to present such a man in full.
Yet DeLaurier’s main contribution, enhanced superbly by David O’Connor’s lighting, lies in his ability to magnify and intensify the depth of Feynman’s humanity. He reads aloud a letter, written to his long dead wife, devastating the audience when he laments, “You dead are better than anyone else living.” But while these flashes offer a glimpse into the spirit of a man who truly experienced such emotions, Parnell fails to weave any of these moments into a plot. Instead these revelations spring up suddenly, launched rather clumsily in anecdote or by Feynman’s “remembering” something else he wanted to tell us. Only in these powerful moments does QED succeed dramatically, but a good deal of this credit belongs more to DeLaurier and Nocero than to the script whose problems they must solve.
What’s already available elsewhere
Near the play’s end, Feynman’s lecture remains unfinished, and he remarks on his difficulties by telling the audience, “In physics, we’re always trying to figure out what we don’t know.” If playwright Parnell had followed this principle, he might not have slapped together a play that consists of little that is not available elsewhere in a much better (and in some ways more direct) form. QED, by choosing only to relate Feynman’s rich career in monologue form, fails to capture the magnitude of this man’s life and person, and merely presents Feynman as a character, but as little else.
To read Dan Rottenberg's response, click here.
To read Rutter's response to Dan Rottenberg, click here.
JIM RUTTER
“What we know” is not only the title of a lecture being prepared by the late American physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988), the central character in Peter Parnell’s QED; it’s also a fair question regarding the real life of Richard Feynman himself, who won a Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work in quantum electrodynamics. From his early involvement in developing the atomic bomb to his final assistance solving the Challenger disaster, Feynman took part in some of the 20th Century’s most momentous events. In addition to the writings he left behind, Feynman’s lectures survive today in both audio and video formats, and many of his interviews are freely available online. What we know about Richard Feynman is deep.
This is the principal problem with QED, the (essentially) one-man show in production at the Lantern Theater through December 3rd. From the initial moment that Feynman bursts onto stage, beating a drum in preparation for his role as Chief Bali Hai in South Pacific, this play reveals little and dramatizes even less. While it’s often funny and highly engaging, QED plays merely like the extremely plagiarized cliff notes of Feynman’s life.
What a talented actor can achieve
Nevertheless, this show is worth seeing for several reasons, chief among them to witness what a talented actor can achieve with the role. In this respect, the Lantern made no mistake in casting Peter DeLaurier. Beyond his remarkable physical resemblance to Feynman, DeLaurier entertains us wildly as he captures the level of charisma and animation, the intensity and sheer zest for living that Feynman exhibited throughout his life. Moreover, director Kathryn Nocero modulates the impact of DeLaurier’s performance with impeccable timing, deftly enabling him to present such a man in full.
Yet DeLaurier’s main contribution, enhanced superbly by David O’Connor’s lighting, lies in his ability to magnify and intensify the depth of Feynman’s humanity. He reads aloud a letter, written to his long dead wife, devastating the audience when he laments, “You dead are better than anyone else living.” But while these flashes offer a glimpse into the spirit of a man who truly experienced such emotions, Parnell fails to weave any of these moments into a plot. Instead these revelations spring up suddenly, launched rather clumsily in anecdote or by Feynman’s “remembering” something else he wanted to tell us. Only in these powerful moments does QED succeed dramatically, but a good deal of this credit belongs more to DeLaurier and Nocero than to the script whose problems they must solve.
What’s already available elsewhere
Near the play’s end, Feynman’s lecture remains unfinished, and he remarks on his difficulties by telling the audience, “In physics, we’re always trying to figure out what we don’t know.” If playwright Parnell had followed this principle, he might not have slapped together a play that consists of little that is not available elsewhere in a much better (and in some ways more direct) form. QED, by choosing only to relate Feynman’s rich career in monologue form, fails to capture the magnitude of this man’s life and person, and merely presents Feynman as a character, but as little else.
To read Dan Rottenberg's response, click here.
To read Rutter's response to Dan Rottenberg, click here.
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