Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences and the Shakespeare Theatre Company hosted a staged reading of Karen Zacarías’s “Legacy of Light.” Two female scientists, living hundreds of years apart, explore the meaning of love, motherhood, family, art and science in this contemporary comedy. “Legacy of Light” juxtaposes the story of Émilie du Châtelet, a mathematician, scientist, and lover of the great 18th-century philosopher Voltaire, who became unexpectedly pregnant at 42, with that of a 21st-century physicist desperately trying to conceive a child. The performance was directed by Samantha Wyer Bello, Senior Director of Learning, Shakespeare Theatre Company.
A discussion moderated by Samantha Wyer Bello with playwright Karen Zacarías and Katie Wullert, Program Officer, Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (CWSEM) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, followed the reading.
Samantha Wyer Bello, Karen Zacarias, and Katie Wullert. Photo by Rebecca Grella.
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