Long Beach, CA -- Imagine if, during the Victorian era, the daughter of the most flamboyant and notorious romantic poet is obsessed with the father she never knew, is infatuated with an older man who is a mathematician, and together they are in a race with time to invent an “analytic engine” capable of complex computations that today would be called a computer. In this you have Lauren Gunderson’s Ada and the Engine.

“It’s sort of Jane Austen meets Steve Jobs,” said Madison Mooney, Executive Director of the Long Beach Playhouse. “Lauren Gunderson delivers a play that has something for everybody. It’s romantic, witty, based on history, and filled with music. It’s absolutely beautiful in its construction and it encourages us all to follow our dreams.”

The play weaves a love story between Lord Byron’s precocious, brilliant, and somewhat quirky daughter Ada Byron Lovelace and Charles Babbage, the inventor of two hypothetical machines capable of solving complex mathematical problems. Ada is haunted by the absence of her father and the ways his philandering affected her relationship with her mother.

Set at the dawn of Britain’s Industrial Revolution, the fiery, brilliant Ada, is the author of the first computer program. At 17 she befriends Babbage, inventor of the first mechanical computer. What follows is a tempestuous collaboration as they envision a future where art, science, and information converge.

“This play is about a brilliant woman in an era when women weren’t celebrated for brilliance or welcomed into the sciences,” said Sean Gray, Producing Artistic Director for the Playhouse. “Not surprisingly, Ada’s fascination with her father is somewhat mirrored in her relationships with men. Lord Byron’s infidelities brought shame to her mother, yet Ada finds herself caught between her marriage and her love for Babbage.”

Gray chose Kelsey Weinstein to direct the show. In her notes about the production, Weinstein says “There is magic in numbers, poetry in equations, and math in music.” And adds, “When you turn on your phone after the show, don’t forget to thank Ada Byron Lovelace.”

The four-member cast includes two returning performers, Brian Pirnat and Giovanni Navarro. Debuting performers are Jenna Palermo French and Holly Jones.

SPECIAL EVENTS FOR THIS PLAY:

• Pay what you can Preview Thursday, June 5th- community can see this production for whatever they wish to donate, suggested donation $5
• Ten Dollar Preview Friday, June 6th - Tickets are $10.00
• Opening Night Champagne Reception on Saturday June 7th- Tickets are $35.00 - SPONSORED BY THE PORT OF LONG BEACH

TICKET PRICES

Friday: Adults are $25.00, Seniors $20.00, and Students $20.00

Saturday and Sunday: Adults are $30.00, Seniors $25.00, and Students $20.00.

Tickets are available at www.lbplayhouse.org, or by calling 562-494-1014, option 1.

To request an interview with the director, cast members or reserve your media tickets to this performance, please send an email to: [email protected]. Media tickets will not be available past the third weekend of performances.

Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA, 90804, right across from the Long Beach Recreation golf course. The Playhouse is community-supported theatre with programs and events that cut across age, gender, ethnic, and cultural boundaries.

Performances are 8 p.m. Friday, and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. The box office is open Wednesday-Saturday from 3:00-8:00 pm and Sundays from 1:00-2:00 pm on scheduled matinees.

PLEASE NOTE: The Studio Theater is on the 2nd Floor. There is no elevator and the theater is only accessible by stairs.