Wonder
"I have a duty to show that a woman has a right to her profession. I will not be condemned to abandon it merely because I marry!"
About the play
2 Acts, Cast: 5+ (3 F / 2 M)
When a ground-breaking physicist becomes engaged, she is forced to choose between the man she loves and the career she’s fought for…
Follow Harriet’s remarkable journey from an early women’s college in New York, to a summer socialist colony in the Adirondack Mountains, to Marie Curie’s lab in Paris.
A historical drama that is startlingly contemporary in its aesthetics, values and theatrical languages, Wonder brings a little known Canadian hero to the stage, highlighting the strength and sacrifice of women who defy society’s expectations.
Who was Harriet Brooks?
Harriet Brooks was born in 1876 in Exeter, Ontario. She is recognized as Canada's first female nuclear physicist.
Harriet became the first woman to earn a master's at McGill University, under her mentor, Nobel physicist Ernest Rutherford. Rutherford called Harriet the best woman working in radioactivity next to Marie Curie.
According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Harriet's contributions to "the fundamentals of atomic decay, atomic recoil, radiation and understanding of the fundamental properties of the element radon, paved the way for the entire modern fields of nuclear physics and chemistry, as well as modern medical applications of nuclear medicine, including many cancer therapies."
(Pictured) Playwright Ellen Denny, who is Harriet's great-great-niece, visits the Harriet Brooks Building at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.
Project Development
2018
First public reading of Wonder at Museum London
Funds raised via Ontario Arts Council, Canadian Nuclear Association, Women in Nuclear Canada and Kickstarter to produce script workshop
2019
Toronto script workshop and public reading with full cast / creative team
Playwright presentation at Huron County Museum
Fundraising efforts increase thanks to support from Ontario Power Generation and crowd-funding champions
2020
Online reading with WiN Canada
Theatre industry shuts down due to pandemic
2023
Script revamp during playwriting residency at London’s Grand Theatre
2024
Playwright reading at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories with support from the Playwright's Guild of Canada and the Society for the Preservation of Canada's Nuclear Heritage
Fundraising ramps up for Wonder's world premiere!
MEDIA
Sesaya Arts Magazine
Canadian History Ehx
Canadian Nuclear Association
Thanks to our supporters
Are you interested in helping bring Harriet's story to the stage?
Find out how YOU can support the world premiere of Wonder!
