Lauren Gunderson

The Half-Life of Marie Curie

THE STORY: When Henrietta Leavitt begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculates projects in “girl hours” and has no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love. The true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries, when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them. Social progress, like scientific progress, can be hard to see when one is trapped among earthly complications; Henrietta Leavitt and her female peers believe in both, and their dedication changed the way we understand both the heavens and Earth.

Silent Sky

As the British Industrial Revolution dawns, young Ada Byron Lovelace (daughter of the flamboyant and notorious Lord Byron) sees the boundless creative potential in the “analytic engines” of her friend and soul mate Charles Babbage, inventor of the first mechanical computer. Ada envisions a whole new world where art and information converge—a world she might not live to see. A music-laced story of love, friendship, and the edgiest dreams of the future. Jane Austen meets Steve Jobs in this poignant pre-tech romance heralding the computer age.

Ada and the Engine

Four beautiful, badass women lose their heads in this irreverent, girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. Playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle hang out, murder Marat, and try to beat back the extremist insanity in 1793 Paris. This grand and dream-tweaked comedy is about violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we actually go about changing the world. It's a true story. Or total fiction. Or a play about a play. Or a raucous resurrection…that ends in a song and a scaffold.

The Revolutionists

“Sharp and funny. Gunderson taps into a buoyant spirit...the touching 'barbaric yawp' (Whitman's phrase) of these two deeply engaging kids.” Washington Post Housebound by illness, Caroline hasn't been to school in months. Confined to her room, she has only social media for company. That is until classmate Anthony bursts in – uninvited and armed with waffle fries, a scruffy copy of Walt Whitman's poetry and a school project due the next day... Caroline is unimpressed, but an unlikely friendship develops and a seemingly mundane piece of homework starts to reveal the pair's hopes and dreams - as well as a deep and mysterious bond that connects them even further. Finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2014. This new Modern Classics edition features an introduction by Julie Felise Dubiner.

I and You

Nan has decided to teach her abusive husband Kyle a lesson. With the help of her friend Simon (acting as her emotional -- and actual -- cheerleader) and a stripper named Sweetheart, she tapes Kyle to a chair and forces him to watch as they reenacts scenes from their painful past. In the piece de resistance, they plan to cover the room in meat and honey so Kyle will be mauled by a bear. Through this night of emotional trials and ridiculous theatrics, Nan and Kyle are both freed from their past in this smart, dark revenge comedy.

A Revenge Comedy

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Tonight, 18th century scientific genius Emilie du Châtelet is back and determined to answer the question she died with: love or philosophy, head or heart? Emilie defends her life and loves and ends up with both a formula and a legacy that permeates history.

La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight

Emilie

Without William Shakespeare, we wouldn’t have literary masterpieces like Romeo and Juliet. But without Henry Condell and John Heminges, we would have lost half of Shakespeare’s plays forever! After the death of their friend and mentor, the two actors are determined to compile the First Folio and preserve the words that shaped their lives. They’ll just have to borrow, beg, and band together to get it done. Amidst the noise and color of Elizabethan London, THE BOOK OF WILL finds an unforgettable true story of love, loss, and laughter, and sheds new light on a man you may think you know.

The Book of Will

Inspired by Gunderson's musical "The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful and Her Dog." Dr. Wonderful and her dog, Newton, want to know why the moon changes shape in the sky every night. But how can they study the moon when it's so far away? By blasting off into space, of course! Illustrations.

Blast Off to the Moon!

Tweetering, pandashrews, and undying giddiness for James Madison -- what else could you expect to find at a Miss America pageant? In this hilarious, raucous, all-female "power-play" inspired by Shakespeare's Shrew, contestant Katherine has political aspirations to match her beauty pageant ambitions. All she needs to revolutionize the American government is the help of one ultra-conservative senator's aide on the cusp of a career breakthrough, and one bleeding-heart liberal blogger who will do anything for her cause. Well, that and a semi-historically-accurate ether trip. Here's lookin' at you, America.

A Comedy

The Taming

Underemployed friends Adam, Matt and Beth are desperate to beat the recession any way they can--like combining forces to take over a small island in South America. But when a fortune cookie tells Matt that he will rule and Beth gets a little too handy with a dagger, plans go awry. This hilarious adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth pits friend against friend, ambition against fate, pet-sitting against miniature vicuna mogul-dom.

Toil and Trouble

How do you plan for a catastrophe? Virologist Nathan Wolfe, named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the World for his work tracking viral pandemic outbreaks, proposed pandemic insurance years before the novel coronavirus outbreak. No one bought it. Now, in a post-COVID world, we hear his story. A time-jumping tale based on the life and work of Nathan Wolfe (who also happens to be the playwright's husband). Though not a play about COVID19, it is a true story of a pandemic expert. An deep dive into the profundities of scientific exploration, the lengths one goes for love and family, the bracing truths of fatherhood and discovery, and the harrowing realities of facing your own mortality, The Catastrophist is a world premiere theatrical experience built of and for this moment in time.

The Catastrophist

Angela is trapped in her basement, waiting out an approaching tornado. Though a self-proclaimed unreliable narrator, she begins to reflect on a lifetime of trauma, illuminating the truth behind her endangerment. Based on Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy, NATURAL SHOCKS is a damning condemnation of violence, abuse, and firearms in America.

Natural Shocks

THE STORY: Love. Art. Defiance. The visceral and visual true story of forgotten modern artist Rudolf Bauer, struggling with his fading place in the history of art as his paintings are removed from the walls of the Guggenheim Museum.

Bauer

Margot Melcon

A sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice set two years after the novel ends, MISS BENNET continues the story, only this time with bookish middle-sister Mary as its unlikely heroine. Mary is growing tired of her role as dutiful middle sister in the face of her siblings’ romantic escapades. When the family gathers for Christmas at Pemberley, an unexpected guest sparks Mary’s hopes for independence, an intellectual match, and possibly even love.

Lauren Gunderson

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