Quantum imagination
By KAREN SHADE World Scene Writer
1/30/2008
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David Gray (left) as Einstein and Adrian Alexander as Kafka tune up for their roles in the Heller Theatre production of “Dancing on Air.”
MICHAEL WYKE/TULSA WORLD |
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Award-winning play depicts a meeting between Einstein and Kafka
If Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka had a discussion as young men living in the heart of Bohemia, William Borden would love to hear all about it.
Since his research has yet to reveal any evidence that the great figures of science and literature ever shook hands, the Texas playwright had to imagine it.
His original play “Dancing on Air” opens for the first time anywhere at Heller Theatre on Thursday.
“At some point I discovered Kafka and Einstein were in Prague (Czeck Republic) at the same time for a few months, and that they were probably both at this Thursday evening salon a woman ran for Jewish intellectuals,” he said.
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Both men were known to frequent the salon of Mrs. Berta Fanta to engage in philosophical discussion and argument. Kafka was born in the city nestled in the region, still romantically referred to as Bohemia.
Einstein taught at the university there for a few years in the early 1900s.
“Man, if these two had met, what would that have been like?” Borden said. “Einstein revolutionized our way of looking at the universe, and Kafka really revolutionized our way of looking at human beings and society.”
Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity, and Kafka, who blurred the lines of literary realism with stories of transformation — what would they have talked about?
It was a natural curiosity from a mind that planned to study physics but later turned to art.
Borden, who taught literature and creative writing at the University of North Dakota in North Fork, has written plays produced by such companies as the renowned Actors Theatre of Louisville.
His work has won more than 90 national playwriting competitions. He added Heller’s original play contest to the tally when the theater announced last fall that Borden’s imaginary tete-a- tete between two iconic figures of the 20th century would be staged during its 2007-08 season.
Borden sets his play in a nebulous “after world” as Einstein arrives. Kafka is already there, and it’s clear that both remember each other. Einstein, Borden said, never liked Kafka’s work, and Kafka never understood physics. So the question of why they have arrived at the same place lingers.
Borden said he explores some of the reasons via traits shared by the men.
“Both of them at the end of their lives felt like failures, despite the fact that now we revere both of them in their various spheres of infl uence and accomplishment. Also, they were never very good with women,” he said. Borden used the imperfections of these respected minds to keep “Dancing on Air” from getting too heavy on the gravitas.
In fact, said director Erin Thompson, the play is often hilarious.
“Women and the role women play in both of the characters’ lives is a bigger seam than I think I initially realized,” she said.
Both struggle to understand how their relationships have shaped them and to know why they haven’t been understood in their time.
Thompson said the stage Einstein and Kafka may be different from what audiences have learned about the two. Einstein is a little arrogant, and Kafka, often thought of as morose, wonders why his comedy is misunderstood.
“DANCING ON AIR”
When:
8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. Feb. 8-9, 2pm Sunday
Where:
Heller Theatre, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave.
Tickets:
$8 for adults and $6 for seniors and college students. For reservations, call 746-5065. More information at www.tulsaworld.com/heller.
Note:
Play is for mature audiences and has adult themes and language.
Karen Shade 581-8334
karen.shade@tulsaworld.com
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