[NEohioPAL] PHOTOGRAPH 51 - Science, Ethics, Equality & the Nobel

[Neil Thackaberry]

Press Release

For additional information

Please contact:

Neil Thackaberry

330-374-7568



*Actors’ Summit Theater*

Presents

*Photograph 51*



In collaboration with The University of Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall as
part of *The
Contemporaries*  *Series*, Actors’ Summit, Akron’s professional theater,
announces the regional premiere of *Photograph 51*.  The play by Anna
Ziegler explores the events leading up to the discovery of the double helix
structure of DNA.



The show will have a preview performance on January 16 with the official
opening on January 17.  *Photograph 51* will have a 12 performance run,
closing on February 2.  Performances are given Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday nights at 8:00 P.M. and Sundays at 2 PM, and take place at
Greystone Hall, in downtown Akron.  The show is appropriate for all ages.
A free dessert reception follows the opening night performance on Friday,
January 17th.



*The Play: *



Rosalind Franklin was a scientist.  She received her Ph.D. from Cambridge
University in 1945.  In the postwar period female scientists were the
exception to the rule.  While her male colleagues were addressed as
“Doctor,” Rosalind was addressed as “Miss.”



The play focuses on the period 1951 through 1953 when Franklin was a
researcher at King’s College, London.



Franklin did not suffer fools gladly and could be abrasive.  These traits
were not personality flaws, but the result of her quest for absolute
precision in her work.  “Rosie” was mocked behind her back as being
“unfeminine” during her tenure at King’s.



The “photograph 51” of the play’s title was an x-ray diffraction picture
taken by Rosalind Franklin in 1952 of strands of DNA.  Her x-ray
photographs and detailed calculations were used by James Watson and Frances
Crick, without Franklin’s knowledge, to construct the first model of the
double helix structure of DNA for which they won the Nobel Prize.
Franklin’s contributions were never acknowledged by Watson or by Crick.



*The Cast: *



*Arthur Chu* (Francis Crick) is performing with the Actors’ Summit company
for the first time. Since moving to Cleveland in February 2013, Arthur has
so far appeared in the play FAIDS at Negative Space and in the Cleveland
Shakespeare Festival this past summer. You can also see him in Handle With
Care at Actors’ Summit later this season, as well as in the upcoming local
film Cleanland by MAD Vista Productions and on nationwide TV on Jeopardy!
on January 28, 2014



*Benjamin Gregg* is making his debut at Actor's Summit.  Ben recently
played Taylor in Ensemble Theatre's production of *Prelude to a Kiss*. In
addition to his work with Ensemble Theatre he has also appeared in shows
regionally with The Ohio City Theatre Project, Cleveland Public Theatre,
Karamu Theatre, and Convergence Continuum. His next stage appearance will
be in *Aesop's Pirate Adventure* at Tailspinner Children's Theatre in
Cleveland, OH.



*Zach Griffin* (Ray Gosling) is making his third appearance at Actor's
Summit. He worked previously on *My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding*
and *Farndale's A Christmas Carol*. Credits include shows at Kent State's
EZ Black Box and Wright Curtis Theaters, The North Canton Playhouse, and
Weathervane. His next role is in the stage adaption of *Pride & Prejudice*,
written and directed by Joseph Hanreddy, at KSU, where he is pursuing a
Communication degree and Theater Studies minor.



*Sally Groth** has performed in many productions at Actors' Summit over the
last 14 years, most recently in *Fiction* and *Woody Guthrie's American
Song*.  Other Northeast Ohio credits include the Beck Center, Cleveland
Public Theater, Ensemble Theater and Porthouse Theatre.  She has performed
in numerous off-off Broadway theaters, (including Naked Angels),
independent films (Bix, 1991 Cannes) and played the fiddle in several rock
bands (CBGB's, NYC).  Regional credits include the Shakespeare Theatre in
D.C., The Denver Center Theater, The Wayside Theater in VA, Trustus Theater
in SC, The USC Repertory Company, Nettle Creek Players in IN and a national
tour of The Little Prince.  She has an MFA from the University of South
Carolina and a BA from Hiram College



*Kenneth Leep* (Ray Gosling) is an aspiring actor who graduated from the
University of Mount Union with degrees in Theatre and Japanese in the
spring of 2013. Currently, he is employed full time at Graphic Enterprises.



*Keith E. Stevens** (Maurice Wilkins)  Actors’ Summit credits include: *Manning
Up*, *Big Boys, Russians in Love, Main-Travelled Roads, Freud's Last
Session, Proof, Macbeth, Rounding Third*, and *I Love a Piano.*  NYC
credits include *The Snob* (Actors Studio), *Audience* (Brooklyn
Playwright’s Collective), *The Honey Makers* and the world premiere of
*2:51* (all at Circle in the Square Downtown), *Deserters *(Bernie West
Theater), *Loader #26* (Theater for a New City) and *Big Al *(ASDS).  Keith
holds a MFA in Acting from The Actors Studio Drama School and a BA in
Theater from Cleveland State University.  He is a lifetime member of the
Actors Studio.

“*” indicates members of Actors’ Equity



*Tickets:*

Tickets for *Photograph 51* are on sale now through the box office at
330-374-7568 and online at actorssummit.org.  Preview tickets are $20.
Tickets for all other performances: $33 for adults, $28 for seniors over
65; and $10 for all full time students under 30.



*The Theater:*



The theater is located on the sixth floor of historic Greystone Hall in
downtown Akron. The facility features barrier free access, free parking,
and full bar service.



More information is available at Actors’ Summit website:
www.actorssummit.org.
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