From Jan. 31 to Feb. 1, Rainbow Zebra Productions presented a staged reading of Julie Hébert’s new play “Entangled” at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. With only three days of preparation, the actors gave a raw performance exploring the nature of death.
Two actresses holding scripts — Anne Darragh in a thick down jacket and Kina Kantor in an itchy red sweater — walked onto an undressed stage, maneuvering around blocking cubes to greet each other. By the end of the play, their embodiment of deeply human and incredibly intelligent characters flung the audience into the imaginary snow-capped mountains of Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Set during the 2021 COVID-19 lockdown, two female scientists and a local handyman arrive at a remote laboratory to conduct research on the ultimate mystery of the science world — the afterlife. As their relationships progress and baggage unloads, they inch closer toward the answer to life’s most profound question: “What’s the point?”
This workshop production, in all its unfinished and fictitious glory, sharpened all the edges of life that had been dulled. Somehow, under a mimed tequila haze or maybe septic shock, the natures of reality and connection were laid out in full view.
In an interview with The Daily Californian, Hébert recounted her experiences at the Santa Fe Institute — a think tank in New Mexico dedicated to interdisciplinary science. Surrounded by Nobel laureates who doubled as consultants for directors, she was inspired to delve into the concept of quantum entanglement from physics, aiming to understand the inextricably linked nature of particles in relation to the human psyche.
“Science can get so specific … but at some point, somebody has to enlarge the frame so we can talk about these bigger questions and not talk about them in a way that’s superstitious or overly religious (or) … talking about them in a way that intelligent people can have the conversation without having to do 20 years of science education,” Hébert said.
Hébert described the Santa Fe Institute as having a “bold vision of curiosity” and this sentiment shone through in her exploration of science and religion in “Entangled.” Not only did her characters give the audience an undemanding glimpse into the world of science, their experiences with the supernatural were dealt with seriously and delicately. This struggle illuminates the mysterious possibility of coexistence that many scientists themselves grapple with.
Hébert’s character’s existential dilemma mimics her own — “It makes sense that there’s no life after death. We can’t prove it. We’ve never proven it. And yet … sometimes people have experiences that can’t be explained.”
As a writer and producer who’s worked on shows such as “ER” and “Numb3rs,” Hébert is a longtime translator of scientific concepts and jargon for the public.
“Scientists and these big scientific institutes realize the importance of getting scientific data out to the public, and they realize the importance of storytelling, and storytelling that is accurate, or at least stories that are not inaccurate.”
Aside from science, Hébert imbued her play with themes of trapped relationships, guilt, grief and the invisible walls that divide people. Over the course of the story, the characters themselves became entangled, even moving and speaking in a cohered way.
A special relationship blossomed between chirpy cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Peregrine Lewis (Kantor) and arrogant but jaded quantum physicist Dr. Teresa Bloom (Darragh). Throughout the entire 95 minute play, the two women truly level with each other, providing a rare exploration of what it means to live a meaningful life, in both a personal and professional sense. Hébert characterizes this as “a kind of debate or argument about deeply held belief systems among these people.” Along the way, Teresa is shaken with humility as her life’s work crumbles before her eyes while Peregrine internalizes a lesson on action in the face of discontent.
The theme of professional females helping each other out is central to Hébert’s work. Outside of the theater scene, she built her project “Look What She Did,” which unlike this play, tells stories about extraordinary women.
When her characters ask what the point is, the answer lies in the emotion and curiosity sparked by Hébert’s piece of art. In a meta sense, ’s play is a vessel to entangle the lives of not just the character, but also the audience. Even after the lights came on and the actors took their bows, personal conversations about religion and science continued.
“I don’t feel certain about any of it, but I feel curious about it,” Hébert said.
She hopes that “Entangled,” if brought to a broader audience, will be an evergreen play about one of humanity’s unsolvable questions. Despite not arriving at a concrete answer about the nature of the divine, she revels in the joy of debate, believing that universal questions can bring people together.