"A fascinating collection of plays centering and exploring real women in the history of science through a fictional flair of theatre."
 

Lauren Gunderson

"Claudia Barnett’s writing for the stage is always kind of a sly treat. As a playwright, she manages to transport us into the world of her plays without us realizing how we got there. And then we don’t want to leave. Within her smart, smart collection of short plays, Aristotle’s Wife, we are guided into six delightfully different times and places, provided with an arresting new perspective of women and science.

Claudia has an extraordinary gift for spare revelation, and within moments of meeting these women—with (or through) their partners, families, friends, colleagues—we know that they are real women, not placeholders or representations. The characters are at once familiar and fresh. We may not recognize their names, but we most certainly recognize ourselves in them.

In Aristotle’s Wife, the female scientists often claim their space quietly, having followed the paths created by women before them. Sometimes they manage to speak out in a field where a man’s word is law. Other times they remain silent, wondering if they’re fated to forever live 'a minor life.' But the truth is that these women have long been present in all of our lives through their unsung accomplishments.

Recognition and who gets the credit for hard-earned discoveries and contributions is a thread that runs through this collection. (Uh huh, it’s usually someone with a Y chromosome.) But each play has its own distinctive energy and impact.

The plays are often love stories . . . between women and their transformative work. They dig into gender expectations and unearth fascinating fragments of history. They are meditations on how we see the world and our place in it—'I’m an artist.' 'You’re a scientist.' 'Same thing.' And they are always full of genuine humor; beautiful and satisfying in a way that catches us off guard. Which is just as it should be.

Because at the heart of each play is an unexpected window into what it means to be a woman… in science and in life."

Jennie Webb