Behind this seemingly simple yet convincing photograph, a whole series of biopolitical scenarios and futuristic concepts begin to emerge: Here, we see the tragic story of Rosalind Franklin, who took photograph 51 in 1952, but would never win laurels for her work. Then there was the race to find the DNA structure where several research groups around the globe fought for eternal fame and the Nobel Prize. From a broader perspective, photograph 51 and the DNA double helix were also the starting points for the development of modern molecular genetics, which currently and in the near future is providing utopian scenarios as well as horror visions – a “personalized“ medicine and reproduction technology based on genetic testing and human genome sequencing, gene therapy and body enhancement, genetically modified food and synthetic biology.

The Schering Stiftung supports the play because of its complex approach to this key event in the history of science. The play approaches the topic with an artistic sensibility, but also from a scientific perspective, exploring not only the emancipation of women in the then male-dominated world of science, but also pointing out the consequences of a revolutionary discovery.

Directed by Günther Grosser
With Anna Cramer, Ben Maddox, Erman Jones, Stuart Austen, Kevin McKinnon, and Oskar Brown
Set design and costumes: Tomas Fitzpatrick
Light design: Katri Kuusimäki
Scientific coordinator: Prof. Regine Hengge (Free University of Berlin)

Anna Ziegler’s “Photograph 51” won the Sloan Foundation Award for best science play in 2008.