Karen Zacarías is a local DC playwright whose plays have been produced around the country. Here she talks with Arena’s Literary Manager Janine Sobeck, about her journey with Legacy of Light.
Sobeck: Where did the original idea spring from?
Zacarías: Legacy of Light was inspired by a short footnote in a book I was reading about Einstein. In 2004, I was doing research for a jaunty children’s musical about the highs and lows of being Albert at 11 years old, when I came across a short footnote that mentioned that a little-known female scientist, Émilie du Châtelet >,as one of the “forefathers” of E=mc2. Curious, I did a little more research and learned other extraordinary things: she was Voltaire’s lover for 15 years, her translation of Newton’s Principia > is still used in France today, and the complex relationship she had managing motherhood and her work. Her story sat in my head for a couple of years.
Sobeck: What happened next?
Zacarías:Then, in 2006, Molly Smith and Mark Bly called to give me a commission. When I received the call, I was running around the house with my 4-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter, was 8-month’s pregnant with my third child, and, like Émilie, convinced that my life as an artist was waning. The commission changed that for me. For our first meeting, Molly, Mark, a sleeping newborn Maia, and I sat in a coffeehouse and talked about the things that mattered to each of us. I came home, inspired. That night, while the three kids were sleeping and my husband was the parent “on call,” I started to write.
Sobeck: What did you learn that first night?
Zacarías:It was an ambitious mess, I wanted pre-revolutionary France >, I wanted current-day characters, I wanted science, humor, and poetry. I wrote in layers. When I would get stuck, I would send the draft to Molly and Mark and they would encourage me.
Sobeck: What was the process like?
Zacarías:I never expected this crazy play to be produced, so when Molly decided to put it in the season, with herself as the director, it felt like I had won the lottery. But there was still a lot of work to do. Jocelyn Clarke was brought in to dramaturg, and he ardently questioned every turn and line to make sure I knew why it was happening. I contacted wonderful scientists > and asked for their advice. I learned that the scientist that discovered dark matter > was a woman living here in D.C., Dr. Vera Rubin >. There have been about 15 drafts of the play in the past two years. It has been a humbling and gratifying process to watch something that was just an idea gather mass and speed and become something larger that encompasses the energy of so many lovely, interesting people.
