10:30am | California Repertory Company starts their season on September 23rd with The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a surrealist examination of the father of atomic energy, by Carson Kreitzer. The production will be directed by Cal Rep’s Artistic Director Joanne Gordon, a recent recipient of the Women in Theatre Red Carpet Award.
Alternating between the desert of Los Alamos, NM, and the haunted shadows of Oppenheimer’s mind, the play explores the rise and fall of a man whose idealism and aspirations ultimately lead to the invention of the most destructive force of the 20th century. This juxtaposition and the blurred lines between identity and conformity, creation and destruction, reality and fantasy, are central to the play’s theme. Playwright Carson Kreitzer states, “In physics, simultaneous realities can exist at once: the chair is solid: the chair is mostly empty space. When observing an event, the outcome is different relative to your position. This is the truth as I know it: elusive, multi-faceted, changing under observation. Also, capable of great explosion.”
Although Oppenheimer led the Manhattan Project over fifty years ago, Gordon points to the play’s relevance in light of current global issues surrounding the use of nuclear power. “We just experienced the horror of the tsunami and the fallout, and on a very immediate level, recently the New York Times reported that they were now starting to sell beef out of the area in Japan near the nuclear reactors. The disposal of nuclear waste is reaching critical mass and politicians’ willingness to look the other way is putting all of us at risk,” she explains. “We’re dealing on a daily basis with the consequences of Oppenheimer’s work. And again, it’s not simplistic – do we become dependent on foreign oil and gas guzzlers, or do we seek a safer way?”
Cal Rep performances are in the Royal Theater aboard the Queen Mary. The production runs Tuesday through Saturday, September 23 – October 15 at 8:00 pm, with the exception of October 6 – 8 and 13 – 15 which will be at 6:00 pm. There will be one matinee at 2:00 pm on Saturday September 24. There will be a preview performance on September 22 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for students, military, and seniors (55 and older). Parking at the Queen Mary is $8 for patrons of Cal Rep performances, $6 for CSULB students and patrons who have dinner aboard the ship. Long Beach Public Transit also runs directly to the Queen Mary. Part two of Cal Rep’s nuclear-themed double-bill, Louis Slotin Sonata by Paul Mullin, will follow with performances beginning November 18th. For tickets and information please call (562) 985-5526 or visit www.calrep.org.