An Immaculate Misconception

Summary

Dr. Melanie Laidlaw is a scientist developing the first use of ICSI, short for intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Her collaborator, Dr. Felix Frankenthaler, turns out to have his own ideas about how to implement their new procedure. The wild card is Melanie’s new lover, Menachem Dvir, a fellow scientist. This darkly comic menage-a-tois plays out not only in bedrooms and labs, but also in test tubes and under the microscope. A Brave New World indeed! Includes an interview with Liza Mundy, a staff writer at the Washington Post and the author of "Everything Conceivable: How Assisted Reproduction Is Changing Men, Women, and the World". An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring: Philip Casnoff as Menachem Dvir Kevin Kilner as Dr. Felix Frankenthaler Kendall Schmidt as Adam Jobeth Williams as Dr. Melanie Laidlaw Directed by Jenny Sullivan. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles. An Immaculate Misconception is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Major funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to enhance public understanding of science and technology in the modern world.

©2000 Carl Djerassi (P)2004 L.A. Theatre Works