The Half-Life of Marie Curie

By: Lauren Gunderson

Narrated by: Kate Mulgrew, Francesca Faridany

In 1912, scientist Marie Curie spent two months on the British seaside at the home of Hertha Ayrton, an accomplished mathematician, inventor, and suffragette. At the time, Curie was in the throes of a scandal in France over her affair with Paul Langevin, which threatened to overshadow the accomplishment of her second Nobel Prize.

Performed by Kate Mulgrew and Francesca Faridany at the Minetta Lane Theatre, this play by Lauren Gunderson is an ode to two remarkable women who, despite tremendous personal and professional obstacles, continued to devote their lives to scientific innovation and social change.

Playwright Lauren Gunderson was awarded a commission through the Audible Emerging Playwrights Fund, an initiative dedicated to developing innovative original plays driven by language and voice. As an Audible commissioned playwright, she received funding and creative support to develop The Half Life of Marie Curie.

Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch
Sound design by Darron L. West

©2019 Lauren Gunderson (P)2019 AO Media LLC

the best 79 min so far

It is THE BEST audible original so far, amazing and inspiring story of how strong women are.

Great work!!

A very light and humorous story. Amazing performances!
I thought it would be boring, but I was wrong, and I am happy to be wrong. I truly loved it.

Interesting but Ultimately Disappointing

A story about friendship wasn't what I was expecting. Madame Curie was portrayed as a far weaker woman than she probably was in reality. The story would have been more interesting if they had started from the formation of their friendship. The best part of the book was the descriptions of the work both women contributed to the First World War.

Amazing to listen to theatre on Audible

This is a not to be missed play. It related so wonderfully to my just-completed read of Melinda Gates new book regarding women and Lift.

Bravo to Audible for its Originals. I look forward to more plays.

Touching Piece

Absolutely adored this beautifully voice acted tale of a friendship about two Amazing women defying odds and making herstory.

Loved it

So regret not knowing I could have seen this in NYC last year. Great story. I had no idea.

Pleasant Surprise! It Was Great!

This was a free audible original. So was "A Mind of Her Own," which I liked but which was not remotely as good! I loved that Kate Mulgrew plays Marie Curie's good friend Hertha Ayrton. I'd never heard of Hertha but school students SHOULD learn about her! It's a story like "Hidden Figures" where women are doing the work and never get the credit. Hertha is a fluid flow dynamics mathematician and engineer. She invented a way to eliminate the hissing from arc electric street lights. She was the first woman elected to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Because of her sex, she was not allowed to read her own paper about electric arcs to the Royal Society. No wonder she was a Suffragette!

Apparently after the death of Marie's Curie's husband Pierre, she had a long affair with Paul Langevin. He was Pierre's former student, five years younger than Marie and married, but separated. The French consensus seemed to be affairs are fine only if MEN have them. Marie was demonized over the scandal, afraid even to leave her house. Hertha talks her into leaving Paris. (While away, Marie learns Paul's wife is pregnant and he is back with her.)

Hertha wishes Marie could win another Nobel Prize to give people something else to think and talk about besides the scandal.... Well, Marie did win a second prize! Marie Curie is one of only two Nobel laureates who won the prize in TWO DIFFERENT FIELDS: She and her husband won in Physics; she won in Chemistry for discovering two new elements: radium and polonium (which she named after Poland, her country of origin). She won but the Nobel committee told her not to come to get it because of the scandal! (Einstein disagreed with this.) Hertha says she should go!

Hertha tells Marie not to let men stop her. If they say she cannot go to work in her lab, she should go anyway. If they say stop, she should moving forward. Hertha is like a force of nature, perfectly portrayed by Kate Mulgrew/Captain Janeway!

When France fought Germany in WWI, both women made big contributions to the French war effort. Marie first offetrf to give France her two Nobel prizes to melt them down for the gold, but the government turned down her offer. She found another way to help: Perceiving a need she designed portable x-ray units (that soldiers called "little Curies") for the front. According to the audio, she herself drove an ambulance with her equipment to the front lines. She assuredly organized the mobile units and radiology service..

The Germans gassed Allied soldiers in the trenches during WWI -- my Grandfather was one of those soldiers. Hertha, used her fluid-flow dynamics expertise, to create the Ayrton fan, a device to clear poison and mustard gas from the trenches in seconds, and she organized the production of these fans. In the audio she says that even the Americans wanted them.

I read that neither woman was recognized for her contributions to France's war efforts. Typical. Hidden figures.

Well performed!

A wonderful play and a great work. I loved every second of it. It even calmed me down. Well done Audible, well done Lauren.

Terrific novella & spectacular performance

The novella itself was short but powerful. I find myself wanting a bit more, eager to research both women and their accomplishments.
The performance was terrific...I love Kate Mulgrews voice.

Dramatic, with great sound effects

A little dramatic for me, I wasn't sure what this would be like. But it was done well and was really interesting!