Playwrights Foundation is excited about the
progress Ms. Wise has made on this project to date. We believe that
the work she is creating is both erudite and accessible. To make fun
and exciting theater from these controversial ideas is difficult. Ms.
Wise brings to bear a lifetime of work weaving important new intellectual,
spiritual and social ideas with the performing arts. As a master improvisational
artist and skilled writer, I believe she is in an exceptional position
to bring these ideas into focus on the stage.
Seeing the first unfinished results of the
play during last summer's Bay Area Playwright's Festival has confirmed
my belief in Ms. Wise' vision for this piece. Seeing it also confirmed
for me the importance of committing to the project's completion, and
successful production.
- Amy Mueller, Artistic Director of
the Playwright’s Foundation
Nina Wise’s powerful story of Kepler
is astoundingly relevant to the issues of today. Inteweaving a contemporary
story with the historical one, the play takes us on a journey of discovery.
This work is especially riveting for anyone interested in consciousness
and the interface between science, religion and the politics that embeds
them. The music is striking and wonderful. Known as a fabulous performer,
Wise is now on her way to becoming a significant playwright and producer
of modern theater.
- Marion Hunt Badiner, philanthropist
I was moved and inspired by this play about
a contemporary astronomer and a 17th Century astronomer I knew so little
about…. I left the theater radiant with that kind of satisfaction
that intelligent, witty, well crafted, and emotionally resonant theater
can create in an audience. This play NEEDS to be produced! It is informative
without being didactic, funny without being superficial, and deeply
human without sacrificing historical accuracy.
- Natalie Goldberg, author
The Kepler Project is riveting and
thought-provoking. It illuminates that signal, perspective-changing
moment when the earth lost its seat as the center of the universe and
the courage that it takes--at any time in history — to be the
bearer of a world-changing idea. Wise's fully fleshed and engaging characters,
both historical and contemporary, put us in the midst of another such
moment right now — a moment when we could move, actually must
move, from a linear enlightenment view of the universe to the understanding
of its multi-valent, interconnected nature. The radical intellectual
shifts explored in The Kepler Project not only change the way
we perceive the world outside us, if we are paying attention, they change
our very perception of ourselves. It is both thrilling and frightening
to be so awake in the world, as we see through the exhilarations and
travails of the scientists in The Kepler Project. Ultimately
for them (and one hopes for us) living a fully realized life requires
the expression of the truth of what they know, even as it threatens
the ease of their existence, and possibly their lives.
- Christina Desser, attorney, activist
The Lensic Performing Arts Center was proud
to present a workshop production of The Kepler Project as part
of its Under Construction: New Works in Progress series. Nina
Wise is creating a compelling piece that delves into the complex nature
of creativity, spirituality and the sciences. With music and words,
her historical characters give profound reference to our contemporary
struggles with new ideas and old beliefs. This is a piece that deserves
to be nourished and grown into a full production.
- Bob Martin, Executive Director
The Lensic Center for the Performing Arts, Santa Fe
