Tune In to Hear L.A. Theatre Works' Radio Mathematics

August 21, 2009

Can't get to a theater to see Proof or some other play with a mathematical theme? Try the audio productions of L.A. Theatre Works (LATW), broadcast on public radio or available for download.

In early August 2009, LATW aired John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, a two-hour program starring Alan Alda, Swoosie Kurtz, and Chuma Hunter-Gault. Mathematician Steven Strogatz (Cornell University), an expert on what is called the "six degrees" theory, provided an audio commentary on the math and science underlying the play's subject.

The LATW website maintains a collection of other audio plays that involve mathematics, including Breaking the Code, Proof, The Life of Galileo, and Arcadia. The plays can be purchased on CD or streamed on demand.

L.A. Theatre Works' "Radio Theatre" series can be heard on WGBH 89.7 FM, Boston; WBEZ 91.5 FM, Chicago; KUOW 94.9 FM, Seattle; KPFA 94.1 FM, Berkeley; KRCB 91.1 FM, North Bay (San Francisco); KVPR 89.1 FM, Fresno; KPRX 89.3 FM, Bakersfield, Calif.; and on other stations across the country.

For more on Strogatz and the theory, see Math in the News "Film Shows the Mathematical Power of 'Six Degrees of Separation'" (3/2/09).

Source: L.A. Theatre Works