The Show
Desperate to be the new wunderkind of the scientific community, Dr. Hermann Ebbinghaus will do anything to present at the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. But when his aspirations of fame and fortune are foiled by his mentor-turned-nemesis Dr. Louis Pasteur, Ebbinghaus calls on his best pals Mssr. Longrais and Herr Weiss to propel him to scientific glory. Fueled by a steady stream of cocktails, fantasies of Marie Curie, and a few songs, our three unlikely heroes stumble upon a bona fide breakthrough that puts their dream within their grasp. If only they could remember to put down the scotch.
Fact or Fiction?
While the characters and situations in The Scientists are fictional, most are (very loosely) based on real scientific figures and events.
Want to learn more about the real-life people that inspired The Scientists? Check out our Fact Sheet
History of The Scientists
The play was first conceived as a 15 minute piece that was performed at Theatre In Aslyum's "Death/Memory Project", a cabaret night of drunken debauchery held at New York Theatre Workshop in March of 2011.
The Scientists initial reading at NYTW '11
After the success of this initial incarnation, we were so enamored with this ragtag bunch of scientists and the process that created them that we wanted to give them a life beyond those brief 15 minutes. We set to work and expanded the short into a full length version, which received a reading at the Living Theatre hosted by Perf Productions in December of 2012.
Staged Reading- The Living Theatre NYC- '12
Photo Credit Bailey Carr
With the feedback we received from our reading, it was back to the drawing board as we continued to work on the script, tweaking, reimagining, and fleshing out each moment to create the full story of these three lovable buffoons we had dreamed up. Now The Scientists are hitting the road as we bring the show to audiences around the country!