by James Wilkinson

‘The Half-Life of Marie Curie’ – Written by Lauren Gunderson. Directed by Bryn Boice. Scenic Designer: Lindsay Genevieve Fuori. Costume Designer: Leslie Held. Lighting Designer: Whitney Brady-Guzman. Props Designer: Jennifer Butler. Sound Designer: Elizabeth Cahill. Presented by The Nora at Central Square Theater through December 12, 2021

I may eat these words by the end of the review but for now I’ll say that it’s hard to get too worked up about Central Square Theatre’s production of The Half-Life of Marie Curie; the play is so unassuming in its intentions. It seems content to keep its head down and do the work that it’s trying to do. So why not let it? Surely no one is going to be irreparably harmed by spending ninety minutes in its company. (I’ve yet to hear a credible story about anyone getting beheaded at the theater.) I’m not convinced that you’re going get anything substantial out of it, but while watching I did eventually reach a mindset of “Go on, take a few whacks at the pinata and see if anything tumbles out.” Is that something? The play by Lauren Gunderson is a loving portrait of the entwining of science and female friendship that’s quite possibly a bit too loving for its own good. It has an agenda, (which isn’t a crime, most plays do), and manages to clamp its teeth down so hard on that agenda that nothing else can get in. The title is a reference to the elemental decay studied by its characters, but in its own ironic way becomes strangely apt to the whole project. We’re only getting half of what we could be out of its subject.

Lee Mikeska Gardner & Debra Wise in “The Half-Life of Marie Curie” at the Central Square Theatre. Photos by Nile Scott Studios

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