The Half-Life of Marie Curie
by Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Anne McEvoy
March 21 – April 13, 2025
In 1911, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium. By 1912, she was the object of ruthless gossip over an alleged affair with the married Frenchman Paul Langevin, all but erasing her achievements from public memory. Weakened and demoralized by the press lambasting her as a “foreign” Jewish temptress and a homewrecking traitor, Marie agrees to join her friend and colleague Hertha Ayrton, an electromechanical engineer and suffragette, at her summer home in England. The Half-Life of Marie Curie revels in the power of female friendship as it explores the relationship between these two brilliant women, both of whom are mothers, widows, and fearless champions of scientific inquiry.
Our cast:
Jess Antrobus as Marie Curie
Carrie Williams as Hertha Ayrton
“A frisky, feminist crowd-pleaser, THE HALF-LIFE OF MARIE CURIE radiates empowerment—which is fitting, since it centers on the woman who coined the term radioactivity. …enlightening and entertaining.” —Time Out New York.
*NEW* Talk-Back Discussion with the Cast & Crew after the show on Saturday, March 22nd
Ticket prices are $21 for adults, $20 for seniors (60+), and $13 for students (any age with a valid ID). Buy Tickets
Box Office hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 1-6PM 440-331-0403.
The Director Speaks Out About The Half-Life of Marie Curie
For the last several seasons, Clague has intentionally selected our March play to help celebrate Women in History month…These Shining Lives (focused on the tragic history of the so-called “Radium Girls”), Silent Sky (featuring the career of trail-blazing astronomer Henrietta Leavitt,1868-1921, whose research redefined our understanding of the stars and the scale of the universe) and Ada and the Engine (the story of Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, early pioneer of computer science.)
The last two of these titles were both written by Lauren Gunderson who, since 2015, has been one of the most produced playwrights in America (topping the list 3 times.) If you enjoyed them or our holiday production of Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley, also written by Gunderson, you’ve already experienced her wit, her fondness for human folly, and her love of exploring the modern-day relevance of women’s stories set in the past. I’m happy to tell you these skills that make her plays so engaging are front and center in our upcoming play this March: The Half-Life of Marie Curie.
While Curie made history for her game-changing work with radioactivity, for those of you who dreaded science classes, fear not! This play packs in plenty of humanity and humor, focusing on Marie’s soul-saving friendship with the lesser-known – but equally accomplished – Hertha Ayrton. In 1912, Marie spent two months at the seaside home of Hertha, award-winning engineer, mathematician, inventor, and suffragette. At the time, Curie was in the throes of a scandal in France over her affair with Paul Langevin which threatens to overshadow the accomplishment of her second Nobel Prize. What follows is a study in friendship and physics, friction and folly, heartbreak, honesty, and hutzpah. And yes, a side serving of science. — Anne McEvoy/Director