Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie

by Alan Alda

With backbreaking work in a ramshackle lab in Paris, Marie Curie and her husband Pierre achieve a revolutionary understanding of radiation and share a Nobel Prize. When her beloved Pierre dies in an accident, Marie is plunged into depression. Paul Langevin, fleeing an unhappy marriage, gives her the strength to return to her work. But the scandal over their affair threatens to end her career - just when she might become the first person ever to receive a second Nobel Prize.

Genres: Plays, Science

72 pages, Paperback

First published February 6, 2013

About the author

Alan Alda (28 January, 1936 - ) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, comedian and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he played Hawkeye Pierce in the war television series M*A*S*H.

Full name: Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo
Son of actor Robert Alda
Husband of children's book author Arlene Alda

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Alda writes a play about Marie Curie.
This is very easy to read and to imagine the scenes in the play.
I was surprised at the complexity of Marie Curie and how she attempted to break out of woman's roles of her time.
I did not realize that she won a 2nd Nobel Prize
Seems like she endured a lot for her profession and her personal life.
I have much more admiration for her struggle.
Too bad this play is not more mainstream for our young woman who may want to enter the sciences after understanding Marie's personal issues.

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play would be perfect for any small theatre setting, including high school and college. Set on a minimalist stage with a few chairs and a couple of tables, the actors' dialogue tells the whole story of Marie and Pierre's happy marriage, her hard work towards the discovery of radium, their reactions to the first Nobel Prize winning, Pierre's death, and afterwards.
More of Marie's story is told than what we've been taught in school. Yes, there's a scandal, but that's is not all that shows Marie Curie's "radiance".
Thank you, Alan Alda, for extending more of your talent to the theatrical world.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not normally a big fan of reading plays, but this one was delightful.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore Alan Alda's writing.