Peter Parnell's "QED" is an up-close and personal portrait of Richard Feynman, Nobel laureate in physics, lifelong advocate for creativity and originality in science, as well founder of the field of nanotechnology, and inspiration to young and aspiring scientists the world over. "QED" relives a day in the life of Feynman, storyteller extraordinaire, with all of the disjointed hobbies, fascinations, curiosities, stories, and quirky juxtapositions that made him a unique character in 20th century science.
"A play from which you leave both uplifted and enlightened... Although the
play is chock full of science, which can be unexpectedly engrossing once
you realize you won't be tested on it, it is more about the pleasure of
thinking, in this case solving puzzles."
- Jeannie Lieberman, TheatreScene.net, 03/11/2002
"Far from being a stodgy academic in a chalk-stained lab coat, Feynman was
a skilled African drummer, enjoyed playing bit roles in college musicals,
loved traveling to exotic places and frequented topless bars in which he
often sketched the dancers. Feynman, who died in 1988, was also a
charismatic raconteur.'QED,' by Peter Parnell, is essentially a one-man
show, with Feynman mostly telling anecdotes about his colorful life."
- Robert Dominguez, NY Daily News, 11/ 19/2001
"'QED' takes its title from the abbreviation for quantum electrodynamics,
the quantum-mechanical explanation of the interaction of charged
particles? 'QED' shows Feynman as the charged particle that he was."
- Daniel Rockmore, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/26/2002
"There are two kinds of genius," observed physicist Hans Bethe, who worked
with Feynman at Los Alamos, N.M. "The ordinary kind does great things, but
lets other scientists feel they could do the same if only they worked hard
enough. The other kind performs magic. A magician does things that nobody
else could ever do and that seem completely unexpected. And that's
Feynman."
- Kristine McKenna, LA Times, 11/27/1994
