About "The How and the Why"

A play by Sarah Treem  |  Directed by Maureen Payne-Hahner

If her theory is correct, a graduate student might single-handedly undo the career of a respected professor. Whose side will the scientific community take?  

The How and the Why, a play about two female evolutionary biologists at opposite ends of their careers, will have its Chicago-area premiere at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering this fall. It tells the story of Zelda, a Harvard professor, and Rachel, an NYU grad student, connected by their competing evolutionary theories about the female body, but their relationship actually goes far deeper.

"Written by the young, up-and-coming playwright Sarah Treem, this play shows beautifully how the lives of scientists are inextricably linked to their passion for science, and highlights the role of women in science with an all-female cast of characters studying evolutionary biology,” says ETOPiA producer Matthew Grayson. Grayson is also assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at McCormick.

The production, ETOPiA’s fifth, features two professional Chicago actors. Playing Zelda, Peggy Roeder is a four-time Joseph Jefferson Award-winner whose credits include productions at Steppenwolf, Goodman Theatre, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Playing Rachel, Brenda Barrie has earned Jeff Award nominations for best actress and has appeared on stages at Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and American Theatre Company. Maureen Payne-Hahner, an ensemble member at Chicago’s Gift Theatre and three-time ETOPiA director, will direct.