Beginning today and running through June 28 on the Hubbard Stage, the Alley Theatre will present Aaron Sorkin’s new play, “The Farnsworth Invention.”
“The Farnsworth Invention” is a compelling story about the creation of television and, in Sorkin’s words, “the spirit of exploration.”
The Farnsworth Invention will be the fourth play that David Cromer directs at the Alley, following the hugely successful “The Santaland Diaries,” “The Clean House” and “Orson’s Shadow.”
In 1929, two ambitious visionaries race against each other to introduce to the world a revolutionary new device called “television.” By the fall of 1921, an Idaho farm boy Philo T. Farnsworth had drawn a diagram of an “image dissector tube” for a prototype electronic television system.
As he seeks to develop a functioning machine, Farnsworth is swept into an epic struggle with David Sarnoff, an enterprising media mogul who foresees the lucrative potential of this powerful cultural and scientific invention. Only one man will unlock the key to the greatest innovation of the 20th century and rule the airwaves.
Drawn to the story about the race to create an operable television and the competition for the patent right to control the future of this technology, Aaron Sorkin described his play as “an optimistic story about the spirit of exploration” in a National Public Radio interview.
The production is recommended for mature audiences for strong language.
“The Farnsworth Invention” features Alley Theatre Resident Company actor Jeffrey Bean as David Sarnoff and Brandon Hearnsberger as Philo T. Farnsworth.
Also featured are Alley Theatre Resident Company actors James Black, James Belcher, Elizabeth Bunch, Justin Doran, Elizabeth Heflin, Paul Hope, Chris Hutchison, Charles Krohn, Philip Lehl, Emily Neves, Melissa Pritchett, David Rainey, John Tyson and Todd Waite.
Tickets to “The Farnsworth Invention” start at $21. Tickets are available online at www.alleytheatre.org, at the Alley Theatre Box Office in downtown Houston or by calling 713-220-5700.
