(Images reproduced with kind permission from the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company)
In one sense, this project represented a complete departure for me, as I’d never written a play before. But drama seemed the ideal medium for recreating the conversations that made Copernicus buck common sense and received wisdom to defend the Earth’s motion around the Sun. And the subject matter reprises a favorite theme of mine: the transformation of humankind’s worldview through science.
Staged readings of the play have entertained audiences at several theaters, universities, observatories, and scientific meetings in the United States and Europe. Its world premiere production in Spring 2014 by the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company in Colorado received excellent reviews.
Praise
"The shining strength of Dava Sobel's And the Sun Stood Still — which is currently receiving its world premiere in Boulder — is that, at a time when the sciences have been so muddied by sloppy thinking, willful ignorance and financial pressure, it provides insight into the scientific process and eloquently communicates the sheer beauty of astronomy."