The play, 'Noether', can be seen at the Maths Institute 25 - 28 February

Through various sources of verbatim, the play critically examines what it means to be a female-pioneer in a male-dominated field and ultimately asks the question whether much has changed 100 years later.

The play's writer and director, and Wadham's graduate student, Esme Somerside Gregory (MPhys, 2023), told us how the idea for the play began and developed into this production: 

"‘Noether’ started as an idea in my first year. I had heard in my lectures and tutorials about Emmy Noether and that ‘Noether’s Theorem’ was among the most beautiful ideas in physics. Digging deeper, I found that Noether’s life was remarkable: she had to battle institutional misogyny to gain a lecturing position and was later affected by the antisemitic policies of the Nazi government. It felt like a story that more people should know about, and it feels ever more relevant today.

Over the past six weeks, the company has devised this show from original source material, as well as finding inspiration for the physical theatre in her mathematics. It has been a joyful and inspiring process to work with such enthusiastic actors who share the same goal of bringing Emmy Noether’s story to the stage."

'Noether' is being performed by Oxford student theatre company Cartesian Productions at the Mathematics Institute in Oxford, 24-28 February. Many congratulations to Esme and everyone at Cartesian Productions. You can find out more and book tickets here.