The one-person play “Einstein!” was held Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Theatre of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.
The show follows the life of the titular scientist Albert Einstein during World War II.
For audience member and EIU alum Alexis Pope, the show was especially interesting because of what she majored in: computational physics and electrical engineering.
“I was really interested in how this actor was gonna do Einstein stuff because I’m a physics major,” Pope said. “He did a very good job. I didn’t know what to expect, and I was excited to see what it was like.”
Pope said that she knew Doudna had done one-person shows before and was interested in seeing another one.
Playing the scientist himself, solo actor and writer of the play Jack Fry has been performing in “Einstein!” in Los Angeles since 2014, making it the longest running non-stop show in LA.
Fry said his interest in the show started after doing research into Einstein’s early life and how at the beginning, Einstein struggled.
“I really liked his character changes,” Pope said. “He did a really good job with that.”
Einstein was a physicist who developed some of the most influential discoveries in science, such as the theory of general relativity, that paved the way for today’s science.
The play avoids getting too technical, Fry said, in order to allow audiences both familiar and unfamiliar with the historical figure to have a good time.
Einstein’s home life gets spotlight alongside his scientific life where the audience sees him struggle to balance the two, leading to complicated situations such as leaving his kids feeling unloved as physics became more of a child to him than his biological kids ever were.
Fry has been recognized in cities such as New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Philadelphia, all for his work with “Einstein!”
He also won the best actor award for his performance at the London Fringe Festival in Ontario, Canada.
Relating to his character, Fry said he felt “connected to [the humanity] of Einstein,” as he studied both Einstein’s characteristics and scientific history in preparation for the role.
Audience members Cameron Craig and Joshua Craig said Fry did a great job portraying Einstein.
“We thought it was a good portrayal of a brilliant man,” Cameron Craig said. “It was a glimpse of a time nearly forgotten. Nice to experience the thoughts of a genius at work.”
The next Doudna Fine Arts Center premier event is on Feb. 7 with Chad LB at the 65th annual jazz festival. More information can be found on the Doudna Fine Arts Center website.
Tyrone Naylor contributed to this story
The News Staff can be reached at 581-2812 or at dennewsdesk@gmail.com.