The Department of Theater will open its first full production in the renovated Hopkins Center for the Arts this month with “Legacy of Light,” marking a significant milestone for the program after years of pandemic and construction limitations.
The play by award-winning Mexican American playwright Karen Zacarías runs Feb. 20-28 in the new Daryl Roth Studio Theater, according to the department. The production represents the theater department’s first show fully built and produced at Dartmouth since the Hopkins Center reopened in October.
“After several years in which our ability to produce large-scale work was limited by the pandemic and the Hop renovation, this production marks an important moment for the department,” says Associate Professor of Theater Analola Santana, chair of the theater department. “To have a bespoke theater in the Hopkins Center intended for experimentation just opens up possibilities for the department in terms of what we choose to produce, and how we produce it.”
“Legacy of Light” weaves together two time periods and two female scientists, according to the department. The play moves between 17th-century France and 21st-century America, exploring themes of gender, patriarchy, maternal longing, and the pursuit of knowledge.
The historical protagonist is Emilie du Châtelet, a mathematician and physicist who was involved with philosopher Voltaire, according to the production materials. The modern character, Olivia, is an astrophysicist who believes she has discovered a new planet while also longing to have a baby.
Edith Stevenson ‘27, a double major in English and film and media studies serving as the production’s dramaturg, describes it as “a really beautiful story, not only about motherhood but also about what it means to be a woman pursuing a career and trying to balance that with a personal life.” Stevenson compiled research on 17th-century France’s history, science, and customs to help the actors prepare.
The play first opened in 2009 at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., where Zacarías serves as playwright in residence, according to the department. In 2010, “Legacy of Light” received a special citation for best new play from the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association.
Sarah Elizabeth Wansley, associate artistic director at Northern Stage in White River Junction, Vermont, directs this Dartmouth production. She notes the play’s “sense of comedy and timing and the nature of the questions it asks.”
The production showcases the department’s capabilities in the new space with sword fights, physical comedy, romantic scenes, intellectual debates, period costumes, and expansive sets and lighting all designed by students and theater professionals, according to Wansley.
“To have that full power of the theater behind you,” Wansley says, creates excitement for the nine-member cast.
Santana emphasizes the significance of featuring a Latina playwright in the theater’s inaugural production. Although “Legacy of Light” is not “specifically about the Latiné experience, there is still a sense of it, because Karen’s identity is her own, and that has to come through in the performance,” Santana says.
The play’s themes create opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration at Dartmouth, according to Santana. The production involves the Department of Theater, the Department of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies, and the Department of Physics.
For Dartmouth students, the play raises questions about connections between science, history, and identity. “What are those connections, and what is the value in those connections, and how does theater help explain them?” Santana says.
The production marks a new chapter for Dartmouth’s theater program as it returns to full operations in its renovated home venue.
