the case of the mysterious lenticular glass
WHEREIN WE ENCOUNTER IT'S JOURNEY THROUGH ADVENTUROUS EVENTS OF CURIOUS COINCIDENCE.
A series of four sequential plays written by Alyson Pou to coincide with the themes of Central Booking Gallery’s 2010 exhibitions on the topics of Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
PART 1: "GALILEO'S FINGER and the Mysterious Lenticular Glass"
Marietta, a devoted collector of lenses and the inventions that house them, discovers a pouch that holds important clues about a mysterious master lens maker of the early 17th century. The story begins in Florence as she visits the Museo di Storia della Scienza in search of clues. Then takes us back, through the eyes of a young apprentice and guild spy Alessandra Mazollini, to Padua and the events of August 1609 when Galileo Galilei races against time to be the first to make the most powerful spyglass in all of Europe.
Performed: April 28, 29 2010 7:30pm
Central Booking Gallery 111 Front Street, Dumbo Brooklyn
Performed by: Alyson Pou
Documentation video: Amanda Kwolyk
Part II “Alessandra’s Occhiolino and the Book of Gold”
It is 1899 and Marietta’s search for the mysterious 17th century lens-maker takes her from Florence to Venice where she must gain access to the archives of a powerful family. Her quest takes a surprising turn that leaves her questioning her own identity. While Alessandra Mazzolini the young apprentice and guild spy in Renaissance Padua is pulled ever deeper into Galileo’s world of Natural Philosophers, their wealthy patrons, and the dangerous dance between church and state.
Performed: June 16, 17 2010 7:30pm
Central Booking Gallery 111 Front Street, Dumbo Brooklyn
Performed by: Alyson Pou
Documentation Video: Amanda Kwolyk
Part III “Marietta and Le Palais de l’ Optique”
A Love Story! A Murder Mystery! The Largest Telescope ever built!
It is 1900, a new century, and preparations for the opening of L’ Exposition Universelle are underway in Paris. Marietta Boyle, still on her quest to prove that Alessandra Mazzolini was Galileo’s apprentice and maker of the mysterious lenticular glass, enters this heady alchemy of science and technology in search of answers only to discover there are other mysteries to be solved.
Performed: October 20, 2010 7:30pm
Central Booking Gallery 111 Front Street, Dumbo Brooklyn
Directed by: Jessica Bauman
Performed by: Frank Deal, Zachary Fine, Alyson Pou
Exposition Film Edited by: Amanda Kwolyk, Alyson Pou
The short film below was created using archival footage and photographs of L’Exposition Universelle Paris, 1900. It was shown as the prelude to the reading of “Marietta and Le Palais de l’ Optique”.
Video excerpts from readings of part I thru IV of "The Case of the Mysterious Lenticular Glass"
Part IV “Fedelia’s Malleable Mirror and the Telescopic Eye”
In our final episode, the long lost pouch and mysterious lenticular glass show up in the collection of a 21st century eccentric recluse who believes he is going blind. It is up to the inventors of the first implantable telescope to give him the super human vision he desires, and finally prove that Alessandra Mazzolini was Galileo’s apprentice and maker of the mysterious lenticular glass.
Performed: December 8, 2010 7:30pm
Central Booking Gallery 111 Front St. Dumbo Brooklyn
Directed by: Jessica Baumna
Performed by: Zachary Fine, Alyson Pou, Linda Sanders , Trevor Vaughn
Documentation Video: Amanda Kwolyk
L'Exposition Universelle Paris, 1900- This video collage of original photos, engraving and film footage of sites and people referred to in Part III, played pre and post performance.