New Play Lays Lenin to Rest

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03/19/2010

Mar. 19, 2010

New Play Lays Lenin to Rest

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Science is on stage once more. Lenin's Embalmers, a new play that opened recently at Manhattan's Ensemble Studio Theatre, looks at two scientists charged with finding a way to preserve Lenin's corpse for posterity. However, the technical challenge of embalming Lenin comes with stakes somewhat higher than establishing a scientific reputation. Working under the orders of Joseph Stalin, the two biochemists involved know that they need to succeed -- or else. We'll talk about the science in the play, and the challenge of adapting a darkly technical topic into a comedy.

courtesy Ensemble Studio Theatre

Produced by Shelley DuBois

Guests

Stuart Firestein
Science Adviser,
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Professor of Neuroscience,
Columbia University

New York, New York
Vern Thiessen
Playwright, "Lenin's Embalmers" (2010)

New York, New York

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