GREY MATTERS
*a Parody of Genius*

Dramaturgy/Playwright Research

“Given the choice between the myth of the natural genius and the sobering reality of hard work, popular culture usually opts for the myth. It is a far more palatable scenario; in fact, it is the Frankenstein scenario. The idea that nature, or perhaps God... endows special people with brains that allow them to do great things with no effort makes few demands on an audience, and allows one of the staples of ancient myth—the minds as spirit—to merge with the modern concept of the mind as brain.
”

— Brian Burrell, Postcards from the Brain Museum

OVERVIEW OF EVENTS

Doctor kept Einstein's brain in jar 43 years (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

‘My Search for Einstein’s Brain’ - Steven Levy summarizes the article he wrote in

1978and updates the story up to Witelson’s research (1999)

Dr. Harvey on the day that Einstein died, dissecting a brain

Thomas Harvey outside Princeton Hospital talking to press shortly after the removal of the brain

Cider box of Einstein's brain slides

August 1978, article images from Steven Levy's, 'The Search for Einstein’s Brain'

William Burroughs in Lawrence, Kansas around when he was neighbors with Harvey

Harvey with the brain in 1994

Harvey in 1998 a year after the infamous Paterniti road trip

“Nobody did what he did to preserve a brain.”

— Elliot Krauss (quoted in Possessing Einstein by Carolyn Abraham)

SPECIFIC SCRIPT CITATIONS

macd107_lobesfunctions-of-brain_labelled_20140530_large.jpg

Map of Lobes of the Brain

William Burroughs

Cut Up Poetry Film - William S. Burroughs

NOTE: I’m not going to suggest you watch Naked Lunch, this trailer is just

enough

“The two men routinely met for drinks on Burroughs’ front porch. Harvey would tell stories about the brain, about cutting off chunks to send to researchers around the world. Burroughs, in turn, would boast to visitors that he could have a piece of Einstein any time he wanted.”

— Brian Burrell, Postcards from the Brain Museum

INSPIRATIONS

These poems in particular were the inspiration for the treatment of medical terminology within the play

JUST FOR FUN

NOTE: That pill bottle has a chunk of Einstein’s brain

In this linked article is a clip of Harvey chopping off the above chunk of the brain with a kitchen knife

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abraham, Carolyn. “'My Dad Has Einstein's Brain'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Apr. 2004.

Abraham, Carolyn. Possessing Genius. St. Martin’s Press, New York: 2001.

Burrell, Brain. Postcards from the Brain Museum. Broadway Books, New York: 2004.

“Dr. Thomas Stoltz Harvey Obituary.” Times (Trenton, NJ), April 10, 2007.

Hughes, Virginia. “The Tragic Story of How Einstein's Brain Was Stolen and Wasn't Even Special.” National Geographic, 21 Apr. 2014.

Kremer, William. “The Strange Afterlife of Einstein's Brain.” BBC News, BBC, 18 Apr. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32354300.

Levy, Steven. “The Search for Einstein's Brain.” New Jersey Monthly, 1 Aug. 1978.

“The Long, Strange Journey of Einstein's Brain.” NPR, NPR, 18 Apr. 2005.

Oates, Joyce Carol. "Love Letter, with Static Interference from Einstein's Brain." The Iowa Review 14.3 (1984): 111-114. Web.

Paterniti, Michael. Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain. Dial Press, New York: 2000.

GREY MATTERSa Parody of Genius