Photograph 51 - (Modern Classics) by Anna Ziegler (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Ziegler's thoughtful, empathetic play brings home with bitter comedy the unlovely male-domination of this world in the 1950s ... glorious." Independent

London 1953. Scientists are on the verge of discovering what they call the secret of life: the DNA double helix. Providing the key is driven young physicist Rosalind Franklin. But if the double helix was the breakthrough of the 20th century, then what kept Franklin out of the history books?

A play about ambition, isolation, and the race for greatness.

Photograph 51 premiered in the UK in London's West End in 2015 in a production which starred Nicole Kidman, where it won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play.

Published for the first time in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, this edition features a brand-new introduction by Mandy Greenfield.

Review Quotes

"I'd wager that it won't be too long before Photograph 51 gets the big-screen treatment itself, and Ziegler hints at all sorts of additional stories that seem ripe for expansion... As it is, the playwright's interest lies not just in the hurtling advances of science and the casualties such quests leave in their wake but, equally, in Franklin's dual prescence as a person out of step with her fellow scientists for reasons of both gender and religion." --The Arts Desk

"Engrossing" --Independent

"A perfect science-history play, with all the hurtling momentum of a race towards discovery, all the step-by-step deductions, competition and backhanded betrayals" --Variety

About the Author

Anna Ziegler has written the plays Actually (produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Geffen Playhouse, Trafalgar Studios and others; L.A. Ovation Award winner for Playwriting for an Original Play), the widely produced Photograph 51 (directed on the West End by Michael Grandage and starring Nicole Kidman; WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play; named the number one play of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune and in other years selected as a "Best of the Year" play by The Washington Post and The Telegraph), Boy (Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award nominee), The Wanderers (The Old Globe; upcoming at The Roundabout Theatre Company; Craig Noel Award winner for Outstanding New Play), The Last Match (Roundabout Theatre Company; The Old Globe; upcoming: Writers' Theatre, Chicago), and A Delicate Ship (New York Times Critic's Pick; The Playwrights Realm; Cincinnati Playhouse). Recent notable: Photograph 51 at Melbourne Theatre Company (Australia); The Great Moment at Seattle Rep (world premiere) and Antigones at the Ojai Playwrights Conference and the O'Neill Playwrights Conference. She is developing television and movie projects at HBO Max and Scott Free Productions. More at annabziegler.net.