Underground Railway Theater'S Exciting Spring

Einstein's Dreams Entertains All

In our last issue of Front & CENTRAL, we announced Catalyst Collaborative at MIT, a collaboration between Underground Railway Theater & MIT, was presenting its, Einstein's Dreams. As part of the inaugural Cambridge Science Festival, the play ran from April 19th through the 29th and performed to sold-out houses.

This production of Einstein's Dream was a completely new adaptation of Alan Lightman's internationally acclaimed novel and was written and directed by Wesley Savick. Set in Berne, Switzerland, 1905, the play portrays Einstein, a modest but brilliant patent clerk in a new marriage, struggling to make ends meet while in the back of his mind re-conceiving time. This adaptation equally entertained both seasoned and novice scientists. Sandy MacDonald, a reviewer for Boston Globe, stated, "Wesley Savick's lively adaptation of MIT Humanities professor Alan Lightman's best-selling novel…focuses on the genius's thought process, not the groundbreaking theories they engendered."

The play featured the talented cast of Steven Barkhimer, Robert Najarian, and Debra Wise. Najarian played a young, acrobatic Einstein, while Barkhimer and Wise seamlessly slipped into an array of characters. As MacDonald noted, "Wise and Barkhimer, along with Najarian as the dreamer, imbue the highly physicalized theoretical antics with such good humor and grace, such humanity, that the science adverse can't help being drawn in."

Following each performance, open discussions were held featuring an array of prominent artists and scientists, including Alan Lightman; John Durant, director of the MIT Museum; Claude Canizares, MIT Professor of Physics and Vice President for Research; Jerome Friedman, MIT Professor of Physics and 1990 Nobel laureate; Alan Guth, V. F. Weisskopf Professor of Physics at MIT; and Paula Apsell, Executive Producer, NOVA, Director of WGBH Science Unit.

Although the run was short, Einstein's Dream left a long-lasting impression on all those who attended and proves that Einstein's Theory of Relativity can be experienced in the theater as well as in a classroom.

Congratulations! Underground Railway Theater Receives 2007 MAAE Award

Underground Railway Theater was awarded the 2007 Champion of Arts Education Award for Outstanding Artists-in-Residence from the Massachusetts Alliance for Arts Education (MAEE).

This prestigious award honors an artist-in-resident or cultural institutions whose programs promote excellence in arts instructions and stimulate community support by demonstrating the following criteria: 1) models of partnership with schools, other cultural institutes, and businesses; 2) superior teaching and interdisciplinary planning; 3) incorporation of arts in local educational reform efforts; 4) opportunities for multicultural learning.

The award recognizes the numerous partnerships and programming Underground Railway has creatively developed throughout the last five years that engage youths' interest in theater, such as: Catalyst Collaboration at MIT; Art InterACTions with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and ICA, Boston; Cambridge PLAYS Youth with Cambridge Human Services; Page to Stage with Cambridge Public Schools; Public Art ACTS with the Cambridge Arts Council; How Do You Spell Hope? Community Tour with the Cambridge Public Library; The Living Ideas Performances Series with the Mary Baker Eddy Library; and North to South Oral History Project with Ellis Memorial & Eldridge House.

Maggie Moore Abdow, Education Director for Underground Railway Theater, expresses her excitement on receiving the award. "URT's community and education program is rigorous and broad, and places theater in connection with the community. We are dedicated to creative collaborations with local organizations to instill in youth a passion for theater's ability to broaden one's understanding of self and community. I am thrilled to be receiving this award."

The annual awards ceremony was held on Thursday, May 31st at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Look for more information about the awards ceremony, photos from the event, and upcoming Underground Railway Theater events at www.undergroundrailwaytheater.org.

Stay-tuned!

As the summer approaches, Underground Railway Theater is preparing for its June Intensive program, Curtain UP! In our next issue, we look forward to sharing with you stories from the classroom. Until then, enjoy your summer!