Vassar College Presents TRUTH VALUES, 9/14

Vassar's Mathematics Department in cooperation with the Drama Department presents one performance only of the award-winning hit solo show, Truth Values. One Girl's Romp Through M.I.T.'s Male Math Maze, on Friday, September 14, at 7:00pm in the Martel Theater of the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film. Free and open to the public, Truth Values, a project of Unexpected Theater, is written and performed by Gioia De Cari and directed by Miriam Eusebio. A panel discussion with De Cari and Vassar women science faculty will follow the performance. For reservations, email boxoffice@vassar.edu or call (845) 437-5599.

The Boston Globe noted that: "De Cari is an appealing performer . . . a kind of wide-eyed Alice in Numberland." Created as a response to former Harvard President Lawrence Summers' now-infamous suggestion that women are less represented than men in the sciences because of innate gender differences, Truth Values is a true-life tale that offers a humorous scathing, insightful, and ultimately uplifting look at the challenges of being a professional woman in a male-dominated world.

The program is presented by the Mathematics Department with the cooperation of the Drama Department; sponsored by the Dean of the Faculty, the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science and Geography, Mathematics and Physics, and the Neuroscience and Behavior Program.

Gioia De Cari received a Puffin Foundation Grant for Truth Values: One Girl's Romp Through MIT's Male Math Maze, an autobiographical story of her past life as a mathematician. Truth Values premiered in the New York International Fringe Festival in August 2009, winning a FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award and enthusiastic reviews: "[FOUR STARS] . . . De Cari . . . inhabits no fewer than 30 roles with gusto" (TimeOut New York); "Funny and insightful . . . replete with hilarious characters . . . The story is riveting . . . go see this show!" (CurtainUp). Truth Values received its regional premiere in September 2009, on the mainstage of the Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA.

Gioia De Cari is an actress, playwright, classical singer and self-described "recovering mathematician." She began her performance career in experimental opera while a teaching fellow in mathematical logic at Harvard. Since then, she has played numerous leading acting roles in theater, commercials and films, including the multi-award-winning film Lower East Side Stories, which screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Slamdance, and many festivals in the United States and internationally. "De Cari commanded the stage with energy, poise and range," according to the Off-Off-Broadway Review in her first play, The 9th Envelope, which she wrote and performed in.

De Cari has studied acting with legendary teacher Wynn Handman, and playwriting with the late Milan Stitt of Carnegie Mellon. After graduating summa cum laude from UC Berkeley, she earned a master of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An accomplished singer as well, De Cari released her debut album, Quiet Songs, with her husband, classical guitarist John Olson, in 2006. They have toured throughout the United States. She is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA and The Dramatists Guild of America.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations at Vassar should contact the box office at (845) 437-5599. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available. Directions to the Vassar campus are available at www.vassar.edu/directions.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

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