The Hard Problem

By: Tom Stoppard

Narrated by: Eddie Cahill, Rosie Fellner, Adhir Kalyan, Desiree Mee Jung, Julian Morris, Hannah Murray, Moira Quirk, Alex Wyndham

Hilary believes fervently that consciousness is more than the sum of our biology. When she receives a position at a prestigious think tank, she develops a novel experiment to prove that humans are intrinsically altruistic, but the results are something she never anticipated.

Includes a post-show discussion with Mark Tramo, a neuroscientist, neurologist, and musician who is a professor in the UCLA Schools of Medicine, Music, and Letters & Science.

Recorded before a live audience at the UCLA James Bridges Theater in November 2019.

Director: Rosalind Ayres

Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg

Eddie Cahill as Jerry

Rosie Fellner as Julia

Adhir Kalyan as Amal

Julian Morris as Spike

Hannah Murray as Hilary

Desirée Mee Jung as Bo

Moira Quirk as Cathy, Ursula

Alex Wyndham as Leo

Associate Artistic Director: Anna Lyse Erikson. Recording Engineer, Sound Designer, Mixer: Mark Holden for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood. Senior Radio Producer: Ronn Lipkin. Foley Artist: Brian DeShazor. Production Manager: Erica R. Christensen. Editor: Mitchell Lindskoog.

©2015 L.A. Theatre Works (P)2020 L.A. Theatre Works

Another taxing but enjoyable mental & verbal Stoppard exercise.

I’m very interested in the question of Human Consciousness, as is Stoppard, so I couldn’t resist this brief work. While the Hard Problem was well written and performed, I have to admit that listening to the usual Stoppard rapid-fire dialogue spoken by a number of characters of similar age and class made me long for a transcript to follow.

I still found it interesting. Four Stars ****

Entertaining, Moving, Thought-provoking

Love this play! Fascinating dialogue about consciousness, altruism and what it means to be human. The heart and true emotion of the story is led by the protagonist Dr. Hilary, a birthmother who surrendered her only daughter to adoption.

Stoppard at his best

This is among Stoppard’s most brilliant and provocative plays. Some performances were better than others, but in the whole, it was well acted and produced.