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CARL DJERASSI (1923 - ) |
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Nationality: USA/Austrian Email: Click here to contact Website: Click here to visit |
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Literary Agent: Buehen & Musikverlag Hans Pero |
After decades of scientific research, including the first synthesis of an oral contraceptive for which Carl Djerassi won the U.S. National Medal of Science and numerous other awards, he turned in the mid 1990s to play-writing, predominantly in the genre of "science-in-theatre." His first five plays have been translated into 11 languages and published in book form in eight; four have also been converted into radio plays. Among the themes found in his plays are "sex in an age of mechanical reproduction," the fierce priority struggles of scientists, art vs. science, and "productive insecurity" (the need of even the most successful people to seek external validation).
Plays by Carl Djerassi
Calculus | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2004 | |||||
Company: | Andy Jordan Productions | |||||
| 1st Published: | Imperial College Press, London; under title "Newton's Darkness", 2003 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #9741 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | A music version (music by Werner Schulze) first produced in 2005 in Zurich Opera | |||||
Synopsis: | A play about the historical scandal behind the priority struggle between Newton and Leibniz as to who invented the calculus | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Ego | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2003 | |||||
Company: | Andy Jordan Productions | |||||
| 1st Published: | Haymon Verlag, in German, 2004 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #9742 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Serious Comedy Comedy | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | cf Three On A Couch | |||||
Synopsis: | Celebrity, wealth, acclaim, major prizes& it's not enough. A famous writer obsessed with his reputation fakes death to read his own obituaries. A dark comedy about a singular obsession by the man who 'invented' the Contraceptive Pill. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Immaculate Misconception, An | ||
| 1st Produced: | 1999 | |||||
Company: | DJANUS | |||||
| 1st Published: | Imperial College Press, London, 2000 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #9743 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Serious Comedy Comedy | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | 1 teenager | |||||
Notes: | Already translated into 11 languages. (Tricycle Theatre, London, 1998: staged rehearsed reading directed by Erica Whyman (with Michelle Fairley, Raad Rawi, Michael Cochrane and Alexandra Lilley). | |||||
Synopsis: | A serious comedy about the use and misuse of a new in vitro fertilization method (ICSI) | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Oxygen | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2001 | |||||
Company: | Andy Jordan Productions | |||||
| 1st Published: | Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, and New York, 2001 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #9744 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Already translated into 10 languages, written with Roald Hoffmann | |||||
Synopsis: | On the occasion of the centenary (2001) of the Nobel Prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences establishes a "Retro-Nobel Prize" to recognize contributions made prior to 1901. Which dead scientist should receive the first Retro-Nobel Prize for the discovery of Oxygen? A sharp satirical play about competition among scientists that is historically grounded | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Phallacy | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2005 | |||||
Company: | Andy Jordan Productions | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #49916 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | with immediate transfer to King's Head, London. Already translated into German | |||||
Synopsis: | A revered classical statue, for centuries thought to be a Roman original, is suddenly proved to be merely a 16th century cast.But is sit worth less? And has it become less beautiful? Personal rivalries and professional reputations clash as Art and Science join battle in this topical new play. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Taboos (When Harriet Met Sally) | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2006 | |||||
Company: | Andy Jordan productions | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #50493 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | explores the implications of modern fertiliy techniques or, as one character describes it, "a spectaculary complicated reproductive mess among adults, not all of them consenting". | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Three On A Couch | ||
| 1st Produced: | King's Head Theatre, 115 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 1QN >>> | 2004 | ||||
Company: | Andy Jordan Productions | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #48394 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | A slightly modified version of "EGO" (see above) | |||||
Synopsis: | Celebrity, wealth, acclaim, major prizes& it's not enough. A famous writer obsessed with his reputation fakes death to read his own obituaries. A dark comedy about a singular obsession by the man who 'invented' the Contraceptive Pill. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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