Central Square Theater and the MIT Museum present:

NO RECOMBINATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION
by Patrick Gabridge
directed by Debra Wise
June 13, 14, & 21 at Cambridge City Hall

On a hot summer evening in 1976, the Cambridge City Council faced a packed hearing room—and a decision that would echo across the globe. At the center of it all stood Mayor Al Vellucci: sharp-tongued, fearless, and ready to take on science itself. The issue? A new biohazard lab designed for groundbreaking recombinant DNA research—celebrated by some as the future of science, feared by others as the birthplace of “Frankenstein bacteria.” Nobel Prize–winning scientists, passionate citizens, politicians, and the global press all converged on Cambridge to confront one explosive question: Who gets to decide the boundaries of scientific discovery?

Fifty years later, step back in time with an immersive theatrical experience staged in the very same Cambridge City Hall hearing room where this conversation took place. Relive the tension, the debate, and the moment that turned local politics into a worldwide reckoning and that formed the Kendall Square that we know today.

Stay after the show to engage in thought-provoking conversation about the legacy of the hearing, the power of public oversight, and the future of community-driven science.

Central Square Theater has partnered with the MIT Museum and the City of Cambridge to produce the world premiere of No Recombination without Representation. This project came to life as the leadership of the MIT Museum and Central Square Theater (CST) reflected on the continued relevance of these debates as the occasion reached its semicentennial. Central Square Theater has a history of collaborating with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology through the Catalyst Collaborative@MIT, the nation’s only on-going partnership between a professional theater company and a world-class research institution

Executive Producer: Michael John Gorman, MIT Museum
Lead Producer: Catherine Carr Kelly, Central Square Theater
Co-Producer: Keelin Caldwell, MIT Museum
Playwright: Patrick Gabridge, Founder of Plays in Place
Director: Debra Wise
Content Advisors: Luis Campos (Rice University), Florencia Pierri (MIT Museum), Robin Scheffler (MIT)

Ticketing Information

• Please note that all tickets for No Recombination Without Representation are free.
• There is a limit of four tickets per reservation. If you wish to reserve more than four tickets, please contact the Box Office at 617-576-9278 or tickets@centralsquaretheater.org.
• On the day of the performance, ticket holders who are not in line 15 minutes before the performance will have their tickets released to a wait list.
• If plans change and ticket holders are unable to attend, please let Central Square Theater know as soon as possible by emailing tickets@centralsquaretheater.org with your Order ID and the number of tickets you would like to release. This will allow people on the wait list to attend the performance.