Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Math In the Arts...

Ivars Peterson interestingly reviews a play he recently took in in India, "A Disappearing Number," centered around mathematics and especially the life of Indian prodigy Ramanujan:

http://mathtourist.blogspot.com/2010/08/english-play.html

The play originated in 2007 (and won several "Best New Play" awards that year), and has been staged in many U.S. and worldwide venues, virtually always to rave reviews. The NY Times called it "lucid, dynamic and continuously engaging," and then continued:
"It’s not fundamentally about numbers, either, but about the search for meaning and the consoling satisfaction of finding the patterns that define and describe both the physical universe and individual human lives."

Another reviewer simply calls it "a thrilling, thrilling, thrilling play." And there are many additional reviews on the Web, including this 7-minute NPR podcast review: 

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=128513493&m=128513513

It's nice to know that the wonder/beauty of mathematics has been translated to the acting stage so effectively!
And this October the play will be broadcast live across the U.S. (and the world) in select theaters. If you are near one... and you are a reader of this blog... you ought probably look for it!

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