Wyn Caudle
Arts & Entertainment Editor
On Feb. 27, 28 and March 1, The College of Wooster Department of Theatre and Dance joined the astronomy and physics clubs to put on “Legacy of Light” in Freedlander Theatre. The play, written by Karen Zacarias, follows the story of three female leads as they navigate the hardships of motherhood and pregnancy while balancing their work.
Before the show began, physics demonstrations were held in the lobby of the theater. Carter Baker ’28 stood outside the table during intermission, explaining the energy of light with a slide show and physical prism.
When asked about his experience working with the show, Baker commented, “I’m really happy that the theatre department and astronomy and physics were able to cross-collaborate on this project,” Baker said. “Especially as a first year, I’m really enjoying being able to experience collaboration between fields.”
One of the story’s timelines takes place in the 1740s and follows Emilie du Chatelet, played by Ada Wagner ’27, as Chatelet tries to get her research published before she passes away from her late-age pregnancy. The other timeline follows the story of Olivia (Lily Baker ’25) and Peter (Doug Slovenkay ’27) as they start a family. Olivia is unable to have children, so they hire Millie (Shannon Dunning ’27) to be their surrogate. Millie decides to carry the child as a surrogate to help her and her brother, Lewis (Borenyi Zakariah ’28), save their house.
The two stories parallel each other — both Emilie du Chatelet and Olivia are scientists and center their lives on their work and on their hopes for a loving family. The two face challenges in balancing their work and aspects of motherhood, although in different ways. Chatelet struggles to write as much as she can before giving birth, due to the likelihood of her death during labor. Olivia, however, struggles with the idea of adding a child into her life and taking a step back from her work.
Supporting characters include Voltaire (Mareece Love ’25), St. Lambert (Ethan Juhasz ’27), Pauline (Emily Winnicki ’25), Monsieur du Chatelet (Tobi Aina ’28) and Wet Nurse (Mali Chappell-Lakin ’25). Voltaire — a fictionalized version of the Enlightenment-era thinker of the same name — is a poet in the first timeline. He is Emilie du Chatelet’s best friend and lover, and the two spend many moments confiding in each other. St. Lambert is Chatelet’s younger lover who gets her pregnant before disappearing for the majority of the play, only coming back near the end. Pauline is the eldest daughter of Emilie and Monsieur du Chatelet. She tutors under Voltaire and longs to contribute to science like her mother.
There were moments throughout the story where the actors came out on stage and explained different scientific experiments — such as the apple and tree of Newton’s theory — to the audience. This moment of breaking the fourth wall in the play added an element of realism, allowing for the audience to watch and learn physics in the play.
Without major spoilers, the story ends by having the characters interact with each other, exchanging guiding words and sharing the issues they were struggling with. Dunning commented, “The process has been so nice because we have seen this piece come to life from scratch.” Lily Baker also spoke about her experience with the play, saying, “It was a very culminating experience getting to combine two of the greatest joys of my life: physics and theatre.”