a Time for Hawking

This award-winning play explores the world of a young Stephen Hawking, before his life is forever changed by illness and an unexpected cutting insight into a new direction for cosmology. Three young people beginning their academic careers meet at a New Year's Eve party ushering in 1963. Relativity and quantum mechanics compete with poetry, Hindu philosophy and opera; and all the while something else simmers under the surface.

As the night goes on, they find themselves asking questions, that become unexpectedly personal. What is the nature of Time? Can we really know the laws of nature, or the working of the human heart? Cosmology competes with poetry, East with West, relativity with quantum mechanics. Add a little champagne and some dancing, and maybe the answers will emerge. But without a doubt, none of them will ever be the same again.

a Time for Hawking explores not only what 20th century physics is all about (in the voice of a young Stephen Hawking and his new fellow graduate student Jayant Narlikar), but also adds poetry, Indian mythology and opera to the mix. Add a meeting with a young woman who will change Stephen's life (his future wife, Jane Wilde) and the subject of love might come up, too.

a Time for Hawking was produced by Indra's Net Theater in Berkeley, and won a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award in 2018.

"Astonishing...Excellent writing and emotionally acute acting keep us engaged, moved, and educated during this extraordinary evening of theatre." - Charles Kruger, Theaterstorm

"..Stephen's alluring nemesis is Jane...proper and imperious, she is the immovable object that challenges Stephen's beliefs." - Victor Cordell, For All Events

"You might come closer to grokking why time speeds up and slows down, or what exactly theoretical physicists spend their time pursuing, than you ever have before..." - Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle

"What's particularly impressive, however, is how poignantly the various topics covered in the play come together at the end, laden with a newfound resonance. It's the kind of ending that somehow elevates everything that came before." - Sam Hurwitt, San Jose Mercury News

Bruce Coughran was the founder and Artistic Director of Indra's Net Theater in Berkeley, CA, which he led for 8 years. During his time leading Indra's Net Theater the company was awarded over two dozen awards, nominations, and honors including the 2020 Annette Lust Award from the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle. His previous works include a play called The Secret of Life (about the discovery of DNA) that was nominated for Best New Play in the Bay Area in 2016. He was also a film director and producer (Maverick Award for 'East of Sunset' in 2005), and worked as an independent director up and down the west coast. In addition, he has published papers in science and history, and has a degree in music composition. He now lives on the Treasure Coast in Florida.