Study Guide - Seattle Repertory Theatre

Anna Ziegler s
directed by
Braden Abraham
2012-2013 SEASON
ntist Rosalind
An intriguing portrait of British scie
role in the
ed—
look
over
n
Franklin and her—ofte
e. This
ctur
stru
x
heli
ble
dou
’s
DNA
discovery of
rt,
sma
a
,
complex tale explores how Franklin
ated
oper
an,
wom
stubborn, and courageous
nce of the
in a field dominated by men. A bala
tograph 51
Pho
c,
ntifi
scie
and
c,
anti
rom
,
historical
s.
is a touching human play of idea
SCIENCE 101 |
What is
DNA
YOU 9O
, GIRL
!
OOL
H
C
S
TO ER
T
WEN OGETH
T
Maurice Wilkins
n
Rosalind Frankli
PHOTO
R
E
H
OOK
WITH IT.
THEY T AND RAN
to
“You don’t have
er.
ov
me
n
wi
try to
ldn’t
In fact, you shou
er
try to win me ov
n’t
wo
u
yo
e
us
ca
be
t that
succeed. I’m no
”
kind of person.
klin
- Rosalind Fran
“I mean, I am
I’ve
pretty friendly.
never offended
anyone else.”
ins
- Maurice Wilk
the
“You can’t be in
e it at
race and ignor
That’s
the same time.
nt
we
e
sh
e
er
wh
wrong.”
n
- James Watso
STEP 1.
APH 51
R
G
O
T
O
H
P
D
N T IS T S B E H IN
A N K LI N:
RO SA LI N D FR
QUOTES FROM
THE PLAY:
anklin
20, Rosalind Fr
On July 25th, 19
on into
nd
ting Hill, Lo
was born in Not
celled
ex
e
Sh
.
ily
ish fam
an affluent Jew
’
e St. Paul’s Girls
in science at th
anklin
World War II Fr
g
in
School. Dur
she
e
er
wh
ris
Pa
in
worked in a lab
51
molecules. In 19
researched coal
arch
se
re
a
as
rk
to wo
Franklin began
London.
in
ge
lle
Co
’s
associate at King
s
e took the famou
This is where sh
e
ur
ct
ru
st
e
th
g
ovin
photograph pr
klin
ograph 51 Fran
of DNA. In Phot
white
d
an
k
ac
with bl
lives in a world
s
ed
ne
e
sh
rk
wo
answers. In her
in is
theories. Frankl
evidence before
gue
ar
to
y
ad
re
d
st an
blatantly hone
her point.
M AU R IC E W
IL K IN S:
d
h more gentle an
Wilkins is muc
anklin.
Fr
t,
ar
rp
te
un
quiet than his co
but
ed by Franklin
He is intimidat
r.
he
fascinated with
JA M E S WAT SO
51 ?
Francis Crick
James Watson
T H E S C IE
PHOTOGRAPH
In 1952, Rosa
lind Franklin
used a tech
strand of DN
nique called
A that was
X Ray diffra
extracted fr
difficult to in
ction to capt
o
m human ca
terpret, Ph
ure an imag
lf
tissue. Tho
otograph 51
e of a
ugh the imag
led to the re
e is fuzzy an
velation that
d
DNA is a do
uble helix st
ructure.
N:
ce to
ry to win the ra
Watson is hung
ill do
w
e
H
A.
N
D
e of
find the structur
mph.
anything to triu
FR A N C IS C R
IC K:
ins
hool with Wilk
Crick went to sc
m
hi
t
ns
ai
ag
peting
and is now com
Crick
A.
N
D
of
e
ur
ct
to find the stru
ific
oat as his scient
is not as cut-thr
n.
partner, Watso
:
D O N C A SPA R
rs to
klin write lette
Caspar and Fran
ve
ha
t
bu
ch
ar
t rese
each other abou
ar
sp
Ca
.
ry
ist
em
ch
an underlying
in
very interested
is friendly and
Franklin.
R AY G O SL IN
G:
in
klin’s assistant
Gosling is Fran
ffer
bu
a
es
m
co
n be
the lab. He ofte
’s
in and Wilkin
between Frankl
ng is kind and
sli
Go
.
ts
argumen
endearing.
“But doctoral
od
students are go
with.
people to work
suid
liq
e
lik
e
We’r
ape of
we take the sh
which
the vessel into
.”
ed
ur
po
’re
we
- Ray Gosling
race
“And what is a
who
anyway? And
wins? …Maybe
y
none of us reall
were
knew what we
hat
W
r.
fo
ing
ch
ar
se
”
d.
nte
we wa
X Ray diffract
ion is
utilized to capt
ure
DNA molecules
too
tiny to captur
e using
regular photog
raphy.
STEP 2.
STEP 3.
Like light mov
ing
through the sp
ectrum,
X Rays passin
g through
the DNA molec
ule
richochet off
molecular
structures an
d scatter
in different di
rections.
- Don Caspar
The photogra
ph
is analyzed an
d
deductions ar
e
made based
on the
scattered patte
rns
captured on fi
lm.
though
of fiction,
rk
o
w
a
is
1
h5
race to the
Photograp
ory of the
st
e
th
51
n
o
etween 19
it is based
England b
in
d
x
li
re
e
e
h
lt
double
t Ziegler a
d
Playwrigh
d recreate
and 1953.
events, an
d
n
a
g
s
n
si
ct
u
fa
s,
s,
timeline
tic purpose salind
for drama
Ro
characters
fe story of
li
l
ating rea
in
sc
fa
.
n
e
o
th
irati
s her insp
Franklin a
- Francis Crick
“ I just love…I
mean does the
er
x-ray camera ev
t
seem like it’s jus
an extension of
as
your own eye,
d you
though you an
the
alone possess
wers
superhuman po
to
u
yo
ow
all
that
ar t of
see into the he
rstand
things? To unde
the
of
e
tur
na
the
h it’s a
world as thoug
e is
els
e
on
secret no
?”
meant to know
STEP 4.
As the X Rays
diffract
in different di
rections,
they are capt
ured on
film as they
exit the
molecule.
PH OTO
CREDIT
S:
top left:
wise from
k
c
lo
c
,
e
g
lynn and
Facing pa
; Jenifer G
n
o
ti
a
d
is;
n
u
l Fo
icine; Corb
The Nobe
ry of Med
ra
ib
L
l
a
n
the Natio
on.
l Foundati
The Nobe
h 51
Photograp
:
g.
This page
Ray Goslin
nklin and
ra
F
d
n
li
Rosa
page 45
A BO U T T H E PL AY W
R IG H T:
Anna Ziegler
ANNA ZIEGLER
Unlike many playwrights
, Anna Ziegler did not
begin her
theatre career as an act
or. As a student she wa
s passionate
about writing poetry and
fiction. Her poetry often
had
dialogue and stories wit
hin it. A supportive pro
fessor
from NYU recommend
ed she write plays profes
sionally.
Since then Ziegler receiv
ed a MFA in Dramatic
Writing
from NYU and her plays
have been seen all over
the
country, as well as intern
ationally. She is curren
tly
working on a screenpla
y adaptation of Photogra
ph 51.
Before writing Photogra
ph 51, Ziegler didn’t hav
e a strong
science background bu
t was fascinated by the
humanity
behind the science. Wh
at makes these scientists
tick? She found, throug
h research, that the com
mon
stereotype of the cold and
isolated scientist just isn
’t
true. Scientists must col
laborate. But, as in any
field,
working closely with ano
ther person isn’t always
easy. The
difficulty two scientists
have getting along while
trying
to solve the secret of life
lends juicy conflict to Zie
gler’s
play. Ziegler wants her
audiences to come away
with an
appreciation of how hu
man the process of scienc
e is.
Photo credit: Will Miller.
FA M O U S WO M E N S
C
O F T H E PA ST A N D FU
TURE
AL ES SA ND RA GI LI
IE N T IS T S
AN I (13
07-1326): Giliani is known
one of the first female
as
anatomists. As a teenag
er she discovered
the technique of inject
ing colored liquids to stu
dy the circulatory
system. She died at age
nineteen.
MA DA ME MA RI E CU
RI E
(1867-1934) : Curie was
woman in Europe to ear
the first
n a PhD and also the firs
t female winner of
the Nobel Prize. She wa
s awarded for her studie
s of radiation.
GE RT RU DE EL IO
N (1918-1999): Elion wa
s an American
biochemist who is kno
wn for her work on cre
ating pharmaceutical
drugs that led to the cre
ation of the AIDS drug
AZT. She is a
recipient of the Nobel
Prize in Medicine.
Marie Curie
Gertrude Elion
JA NE GO ODAL L (19
34-PR
ES EN T): Goodall is a Bri
anthropologist known
tish
for her studies of social
and family
interactions of wild chi
mpanzees in Tanzania
for forty-five years.
MA RY-C LA IR E KI NG
(19
46-P RE SE NT): King is
American human genetic
an
ist at the University of
Washington who
has identified breast can
cer genes.
Jane Goodall
Mary-Claire King
Photos courtesy of (clo
ckwise from top left): The
Nobel
Foundation; National Can
cer Institute; The Jane
Goodall
Foundation; The Americ
an Society of Human Gen
etics.