Mr g: A Play about the Creation

Based on the novel by Alan Lightman ’70
Lighting Design by Jiyoun Chang
Adapted and Directed by Cara Reichel ’96

Presented in collaboration with members of the spring 2024 Princeton Atelier course, “Space, Time and Creation — A Theatrical Adaptation of Mr g”

Adapted from physicist Alan Lightman’s playful and profound novel, Mr g is the story of creation told from a new perspective. Combining science, theology, and moral philosophy, Mr g is an imaginative work that explores the nature of existence.
This new theatrical adaptation of the novel will be presented as an immersive staged reading one night only, on April 19 in the Princeton University Chapel.

During the reading, audiences will be invited to move through the Chapel, experiencing the text and immersive design elements including lighting design by Jiyoun Chang (Tony Award nominee for Broadway’s for colored girls… and Slave Play) from a variety of viewpoints within the space.

Photo Gallery

The presentation will feature multi-hyphenate Broadway actor Heath Saunders (Company, The Great Comet) reading the role of Mr g, alongside an ensemble of undergraduate and alumni performers collaborating to create this site-specific experience.

An all-powerful but not all-knowing creator, Mr g discovers that with his creation of space, time, and matter come unforeseen consequences. As he watches his favorite universe grow into maturity, he begins to understand how the act of creation can change the creator.

The novel is adapted for the stage by Cara Reichel (co-founder and Producing Artistic Director of NYC’s Prospect Theater Company) who also directs.

Original music and sound design are created by Adrian Thananopavarn ’24, Samantha Spector ’24 and guest artist Chad Raines.

Cosponsored by the Princeton Project in Philosophy and Religion.

 

View the playbill for Mr g: A Play about the Creation

Tickets & Details

The staged reading is free and open to the public; tickets required.

Reserve Free Tickets

Directions

Get directions to the Princeton University Chapel

Accessibility

The Princeton University Chapel is accessible via a ramp entrance located on the north side of the building, accessible entrance door, and a lift to restrooms. For questions about facilities access at the Chapel contact Chapel Administrator Patricia Florek by emailing florek@princeton.edu or by calling 609-258-3048. Guests in need of programmatic access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week in advance of the event date.

 

About the Artists

Jiyoun Chang is a lighting and set designer whose Broadway credits include Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, The Cottage, KPOP Broadway, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf (Tony Award Nomination), and Slave Play (Tony, Drama Desk, Henry Hewes Nominations). Chang’s recent credits include Stereophonic (Playwright Horizon), Walk On Through (MCC), The Far Country (Lucille Lortel & Drama Desk Noms), Ride The Cyclone (Arena), The Factotum (Chicago Lyric Opera), Bina’s Six Apples (Suzi Bass Award), Marys Seacole (Henry Hewes Nomination), The World is Round (Obie Award), and other works at The Public, Roundabout, New York Theatre Workshop, MCC, Signature, 2nd Stage, MTC, La Jolla, ATC, Guggenheim, Berkeley Rep, CalShakes, Guthrie, Old Globe, and elsewhere.

 

 

 

Alan Lightman (Princeton Class of 1970) is an American writer, physicist, and social entrepreneur. He received his PhD in theoretical physics in 1974. Since then, Lightman has done fundamental research on the astrophysics of black holes, astrophysical radiation processes, and stellar dynamics.

Lightman has served on the faculties of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was the first person at MIT to receive dual faculty appointments in science and in the humanities. He is currently professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT. He is the author of numerous books, both nonfiction and fiction, including Einstein’s Dreams, an international bestseller; The Diagnosis, a finalist for the National Book Award in fiction; and Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine, the basis of a three-part series titled “Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science,” which premiered on public television in January 2023. Lightman has won numerous awards for his work and has six honorary degrees.

 

Cara Reichel is the founding Producing Artistic Director of New York City’s critically-acclaimed, OBIE and Drama Desk Award-winning Prospect Theater Company. For more than two decades she has been a leader in the field of new musical theater development. She collaborates frequently with fellow founding Prospect artist, composer/lyricist Peter Mills. They have created over a dozen new musicals including: The Hello Girls (2019 Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Outstanding Direction, Book, Score, and Production; three Drama Desk Award nominations including Outstanding Production), Death for Five Voices, The Underclassman, Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge, The Flood and Illyria. Reichel directed the NYC premiere of Einstein’s Dreams, a musical based on the book by Alan Lightman, which received multiple 2020 Drama Desk Award nominations.

 

Heath Saunders is an actor, composer, multi-instrumentalist, director, teacher, producer, and diversity dramaturg—a role they infamously made up one day and now is a whole career unto itself. All of their free time is generally devoted to readings, workshops, and new works in one of those aforementioned capacities. They recently joined the faculty at The New School, in addition to enjoying teaching with the Musical Creators Institute and Actor Therapy. Selected theater credits include Company (Broadway), Once (Hangar Theater), Jesus Christ Superstar (NBC Live!, Chicago Lyric), Alice By Heart (MCC Theater), and The Great Comet (Broadway). Their 2020 EP Does Not Play Well With Others (I Hope You’re Not ‘Others’) can be heard wherever you stream music, except maybe Tidal–they don’t know, they don’t have an account. In 2021, they co-founded a tech start-up, Spectra Media Collective, with their mother and siblings, where they now act as Chief Creative Officer. Alternatively, you can keep track of their personal antics more or less everywhere @feeltheheath.