Set in New York City during the early 1980s, Love + Science centers on two gay medical students who connect while working in a retrovirology lab.
Love + Science, a new play by playwright and scientist David J. Glass, is set to premiere May 26-July 6, 2023, at New York City Center Stage (ii) (131 W 55th St, Manhattan). Directed by Allen MacLeod, Love + Science centers on two gay medical students who must navigate their love, careers, and loyalties at the height of the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis. The production will officially open on Sunday, June 4. Tickets, starting at $25, are now on-sale at www.loveandscienceplay.com.
Set in New York City during the early 1980s, Love + Science centers on two gay medical students who connect while working in a retrovirology lab. When HIV erupts, the fallout upends their relationship as their response to the rising epidemic pushes them along different paths, raising questions about their values as scientists and doctors and their responsibilities as gay men. A sprawling drama spanning the decade, Love + Science explores the difficulties of love during a crisis, the realities of scientific progress, and how to maintain hope in the midst of an epic struggle.
"The panic at the beginning of the COVID pandemic felt eerily similar to the beginnings of the HIV/AIDS epidemic," said playwright David J. Glass. "This led me to return to playwriting after decades working in medical research. Love + Science is my attempt to shed more light on a tumultuous moment in New York history that is being forgotten."
Love + Science is inspired by Glass' time at New York Medical College, where he took care of HIV patients as a medical student, and at Columbia University where he conducted postdoctoral research in a laboratory that was focused on HIV and other emerging infectious diseases. As a native New Yorker, Glass witnessed first-hand how the HIV/AIDS epidemic radically changed the lives of gay men in New York.
Casting and additional creative team members for Love + Science will be announced at a later date.
Please visit www.loveandscienceplay.com for more information.
About the Artists
David J. Glass (playwright) trained with Peter Hedges at the Manhattan Class Company in the 1980s, and had work staged at Playwrights Horizons including five plays performed off-off-Broadway, most notably Beach Scenes, which was performed at Intar Stage II in 1989. He then took time away from theater to focus on science. Glass is currently the Vice President of Research at a local biotech company, a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Medical School, where he teaches classes on how best to perform experiments, and the history and philosophy of experimentation, and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. He is the author of Experimental Design for Biologists (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2014) and over 150 scientific manuscripts.
Allen MacLeod (director) is a New York-based director of new plays and musicals. Recent credits include Light Switch (Spectrum Theatre Ensemble), The Trade Federation: or, Let's Explore Globalization Through the Star Wars Prequels (IRT Theater); and Prophesy (The Wild Project; best direction award, Fresh Fruit Festival). Select associate/assisting credits: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (The Kennedy Center); Frozen: A Musical Spectacular (Disney Cruise Lines); Presto Change-o, A Little More Alive, and Man of La Mancha (Barrington Stage); I Hate Hamlet (Bucks County Playhouse); We Are the Tigers (Gallery Players); Cory and Smin's Love Conquers the Universe (Smiling Hogshead Ranch).
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