PROXIMA CENTAURI By David Whiteman
November 14, 2023 at 7pm ET
Like the continually expanding universe itself, there is something exquisitely random about the approach to storytelling here. With Proxima Centauri, playwright David Whiteman takes us “revolving, orbiting and rotating” through the discombobulated mind of respected astrophysics professor Frederick E. Delahunt. With his long-deceased father, Elwood, by his side, Dr. Delahunt journeys across time and space on
simultaneous yet painfully divergent quests: rescuing his ailing mother, Amelia, from financial exploitation at the hands of an unscrupulous sibling, and motivating his students to save Planet Earth from the relentlessly destructive nature of mankind. This is at once an intimate and skillfully drawn family drama, paralleled by a take-no-prisoners commentary on critical issues of the day, such as climate change,
globalization, capitalism and the rise of populism. Ultimately, in attempting to bridge the gap between science and faith, Proxima Centauri asks us to consider our true place in the universe, and our probable fate.
