Blame Florida’s abysmal education system for the fact that you don’t know as much about groundbreaking scientist Marie Curie as you should. The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, Curie is largely responsible for discovering the curative properties of radium — yes, radium, as in radiology, what we use today to treat and cure cancer. Apart from being the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, she is one of only two people to win the prestigious award twice in different categories. In other words, Curie kicked some serious scientific ass. Of course, being a woman, she couldn’t achieve such recognition without a bunch of small-minded morons (read: male scientists/haters) talking a lot of smack. She had an affair with a married man — big deal. If it wasn’t for her research, we wouldn’t have the x-ray. Angelica Torn, who might best be remembered as the cold bitch who poisons her step-daughter’s soup in The Sixth Sense, plays Curie in the The Radiant at New Theatre . Playwright Shirley Lauro’s interpretation of the “tempestuous love-torn life of Marie Curie” opens at Friday.
Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Starts: March 18. Continues through April 17, 2011