Who doesn’t know Marie Curie? She was the first person to ever win a Nobel Prize twice – one for physics and another for chemistry. She is so far the only woman to have done so (the other three being men). She discovered two elements: radium and polonium. She coined the term “radioactivity”. What we know of the phenomenon today builds on her pioneering, world-changing labors.
But who knew Madame Curie also became the center of a scandal that rocked pre-war French society?
In this episode, Rappler senior producer JC Gotinga speaks with Missy Maramara, Caisa Borromeo, and Kiara Pipino – the women behind the Asian premiere of “The Half-Life of Marie Curie” by playwright Lauren Gunderson. The play delves into a period of crisis in Madame Curie’s life: when a love affair threatened to ruin her reputation and illness from radioactive exposure wreaked havoc on her body, even as she was awarded her second Nobel Prize.
Her friendship with Hertha Ayrton – the physicist who figured out how to stop light bulbs from buzzing – anchors Marie as her passions consume her: the metaphor of the half-life.
Watch the episode on Friday, August 16, at 4 pm.
Produced by MusicArtes, Inc., “The Half-Life of Marie Curie” runs from August 23 to 30 at the Doreen Black Box Areté, Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. Click here for tickets. – Rappler.com