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Photograph 51  By  cover art

Photograph 51

By: Anna Ziegler
Narrated by: Anna Chlumsky,Omar Metwally,Benjamin Rosenfield,Stephen Kunken,David Corenswet,Aasif Mandvi
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Publisher's Summary

In 1951, chemist Rosalind Franklin (Anna Chlumsky) works relentlessly in her King’s College London lab, closing in on a major discovery that could unlock the mysteries of the DNA molecule. Undermined by her colleague Maurice Wilkins (Omar Metwally), she struggles to compete with rival team Watson and Crick (David Corenswet and Aasif Mandvi) as pressure intensifies to produce results. 

Following a critically acclaimed run in London, Anna Ziegler’s play is brought to life in a new production directed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman, honoring the monumental contribution of one scientist with two X chromosomes whom history nearly left behind.

©2020 Anna Ziegler (P)2020 AO Media LLC

Go Behind the Scenes of Photograph 51

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About the Creator

Anna Ziegler’s plays include the widely produced Photograph 51 (West End, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Nicole Kidman; named the number one play of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune; winner of the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play; it will soon be included in Bloomsbury's Modern Classics series), The Last Match (Roundabout; Old Globe; Writers Theatre), The Wanderers (Old Globe and upcoming at The Roundabout) and Actually (Geffen Playhouse; Williamstown; Manhattan Theatre Club; Trafalgar Studios and many more; L.A. Ovation Award winner for Playwriting for an Original Play). Oberon Books has published a collection of her work entitled Anna Ziegler: Plays One. She is developing TV and film projects at HBOMax and Scott Free Productions.

About the Director

A five-time Tony Award winning director and choreographer, her work has been honored with Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, and a record five Astaire Awards. She directed and choreographed the Tony Award-winning Best Musicals Contact, and The Producers, winner of a record-making 12 Tony Awards. Broadway credits include The Scottsboro Boys, Show Boat, Bullets Over Broadway, Big Fish, Oklahoma!, Young Frankenstein, Thou Shalt Not, The Music Man, The Frogs, Steel Pier, Prince of Broadway, and Crazy for You. Off-Broadway credits include The Beast in the Jungle, Dot, Flora the Red Menace, And the World Goes ’Round, Happiness, The Last Two People on Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, and Marie. She directed and choreographed The Merry Widow for the Metropolitan Opera. She directed and choreographed The Producers: The Movie Musical, nominated for four Golden Globes, and received the American Choreography Award for her work in the film Center Stage. She is the recipient of the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater and a member of the Theater Hall of Fame.

Original Music Composition and Sound Design by: Darron L. West
Dialect Coach: Barbara Rubin
Assistant Director: Maya Davis
Executive Producer for Audible: Kate Navin
Producer for Audible: Jessica Amato
Executive Producer for Williamstown Theatre Festival: Mandy Greenfield
Producer for Williamstown Theatre Festival: Lindsey Turteltaub
Staff for Williamstown Theatre Festival
Antonello Di Benedetto, Director of Audience Engagement
Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director
Henrietta Key, Development Coordinator
Aileen Lambert, Literary Manager
Lucie Ledbetter, Line Producer
Josh Martinez-Nelson, Director of Development & Communications
Amy Russell, Director of Finance
Laura Savia, Associate Artistic Director
Lindsey Turteltaub, Director of Production
Lianna Rada-Hung, Assistant to the Artistic Director
For over six decades, Williamstown Theatre Festival, recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and the Commonwealth Award for Achievement, has brought emerging and professional theatre artists together to create a thrilling summer festival of premiere work alongside fresh, new productions of the western canon, accompanying cultural events including Community Works and Late-Night Cabarets, and readings and workshops of new plays. Under Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield, WTF launched the Andrew Martin-Weber New Play and Musical Commissioning Program, through which theatre artists, including Jocelyn Bioh, Nathan Alan Davis, Halley Feiffer, Justin Levine, Matthew Lopez, Jiehae Park, Benjamin Scheuer, and many others, create new work supported by a year-round play development program. WTF runs unmatched training programs for new generations of theatre talent, and artists and productions shaped at WTF fill theatres in New York, London, and around the country each season. Williamstown Theatre Festival’s productions of The Bridges of Madison County, The Elephant Man, Fool for Love, Living on Love, and The Visit enjoyed critically acclaimed runs on Broadway, with The Elephant Man and The Visit receiving Tony Award nominations for Best Revival of a Play and Best Revival of a Musical, respectively. WTF's world premiere productions of Cost of Living (winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), Actually, Paradise Blue, and Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow played acclaimed Off-Broadway runs. In the abbreviated 2019-20 theatrical season, Williamstown Theatre Festival was represented or scheduled to be represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally by The Sound Inside and Grand Horizons, both of which received Tony Award nominations for Best Play, The Rose Tattoo, Seared, Selling Kabul, Unknown Soldier, and Lempicka. Visit us at www.wtfestival.org.
Williamstown Theatre Festival would like to thank 321 Theatrical Management, Telsey & Company and DKC/O&M.

Also Featuring

Audible Questionnaire with Anna Chlumsky

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What listeners say about Photograph 51

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Riveting

I don’t often use the word riveting but it certainly describes this production. I love that Audible is offering such great work. The actors are amazing. The writing is so good. Listening to it brought the characters to life. The actors couldn’t have been more perfect for this. Funny, informative and sad, Photograph 51 is one of the best productions Audible has produced. I hope they consider doing more like it.

6 people found this helpful

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worth every minute

this is simply exquisite! (and i learned now how to spell that word just for this)
poetic theater, heart meets head and there's no going back. enjoy :)

4 people found this helpful

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Not what I expected.

When I first realized I wanted to post a review I thought no, this is something from the 50's and all these characters are probably gone by now. Not true, this was done recently as I only learned listening to the interview. So I just want to let the writer and characters in on how so real in my mind it was. How did you make it feel as if I was back in time? I will be glad if everyone gets my bravo for entertaining me through several lunch breaks. If people would just listen to the small voices in their heads. Sadness, regrets, lost love. I will have to listen again soon. Loved it. Thank you.

3 people found this helpful

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Time well spent

This is a fascinating story and gave proper credit to Rosalind Franklin’s incredible contributions to the understanding of DNA. The writing, production and actors were excellent.

3 people found this helpful

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Unveiling the Helix - In Collaboration and Isolation

Beautifully written about classical themes - left me in tears and thoughtful. Not offensive in its portrayal of the human challenges in those who triumphed in science through intentioned and accidental efforts. Unveiling the very human
story behind the discovery of the shapes of DNA with all its social and personal nuances.

3 people found this helpful

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Another Brilliant Woman Neglected by History

This lyrical play hit me hard! I first studied DNA in the 70's, at the same time that the boys kept locking me out of the computer lab and boys would not be seen socially with the future female valedictorian. In many ways, despite the progress women have fought so hard for, the essential inequalities remain: we still are judged by our looks over our brains, men still take credit for our work, and our apparent "value" diminishes the older we get. This beautiful drama made me rage and made me cry. Why wasn't Dr. Rosalind Franklin also awarded the Nobel prize? Just a week ago, a beautiful talented woman jumped 29 floors to her death because she felt that her life was over after 30. What kind of culture continues to allow these crimes of bullying, shunning, and despair? I think everyone will find new discoveries and questions as they listen to this extraordinary play.

1 person found this helpful

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A treat and an education.

What a pleasure to hear this well done play as
an audiobook. It is beautifully done and contains excellent character studies with development. I highly recommend this bonus treat!

1 person found this helpful

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Loved the story; loved the style

I didn't know anything about Rosalind Franklin and now I can't get enough of learning about her.

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It made me cry

OMG
I did not expect the end. I won’t say more.
Enjoy & be patient.
Excellent

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Excellent

Engaging right from the start. Interesting story, performed well. If this is ever performed on a stage near me, I’ll be in the front row!

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Profile Image for Norma Miles
  • Norma Miles
  • 04-18-22

"We're here to start again."


"We're here to start again."
This is an Audible Original recording of the two hour play performed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, with various actors including Anna Chiumsky as Rosalind Franklin.
Franklin died, aged only 37, from ovarian cancer. Her brilliantly innovative photography was central to the modelling of the double helix, deciphering the structure of DNA, in the mid twentieth century. Yet she received no recognition for this when the Nobel prize were handed out - she was, after all, just a woman.

I confess I knew nothing about Franklin before this play - a huge indictment in itself - so I cannot tell if the events portrayed are accurate. She seemed to be a character consumed, uneasy with others, a difficult woman to like but who, through her dedication to her work, enabled colleagues to discover the secret of life. The actors were good, voices distinctive. I feel now that I would like to learn more about Rosalind Franklin.

Available to download for free on the Audible Plus programme.

2 people found this helpful

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  • ruth Wilson
  • 03-24-23

Fascinating

I loved Rosalind a brilliant character. This is a peek into the minds of ground breaking scientists. A heartbreaking love story that never was

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 01-05-23

Superb

Thank you for producing this gem. I learned a lot and the writing and performances were top notch.