It is 1953, and British scientist Dr. Rosalind Franklin — brilliant, passionate, and ambitious — pours herself into her work at King's College Lab in London. One of the great scientists of the twentieth century, Dr. Franklin embarked on a fervid drive to map the contours of the DNA molecule, only to falter because of her own rigorous standards. The play relives the chase and the discovery of DNA's double helix structure, revealing the unsung achievements of this trail-blazing, fiercely independent woman.
"An electric journey of suspense. Compelling drama with an emotional wallop. Who knew biophysics could have you on the edge of your seat?" - The Minneapolis Star Tribune
Playwright Anna Ziegler's plays include "A Delicate Ship," "Dove and Ali," "Another Way Home," "The Minotaur," and "Life Science." Photograph 51 is currently running on the West End in London in its UK premiere, starring Nicole Kidman as Rosalind Franklin. Ziegler has been awarded a Tribeca Film Festival/Sloan Grant to adapt Photograph 51 into a film, and she has been awarded a Manhattan Theater Club/Sloan Commission to write a new play about the ethics of gender assignment.
Photograph 51 is presented by special arrangement with DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE, INC.
The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever are strictly prohibited.
Setting: 1953, King's College Lab in London.
| Rosalind Franklin, an English chemist and x-ray crystallographer | . . . . | Cara King |
| Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand-born English physicist and molecular biologist; Franklin's colleague at King's College Lab | . . . . | David J. Anderson |
| James Watson, American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick | . . . . | Joshua Adler |
| Don Caspar, American structural biologist who, as a postdoctoral scholar, worked with James Watson at Caltech. In 1955-56 he worked as a postdoctoral scholar with Rosalind Franklin at Birbeck College in London | . . . . | |
| Ray Gosling, a PhD student assigned to assist Franklin; Gosling and Franklin worked closely together to perfect the technique of x-ray diffraction photography of DNA | . . . . | Aidan Brooks |
| Francis Crick, British molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist; co-discoverer of the structure of DNA with James Watson | . . . . | Steve Sobelman |