Imagination and the Mind: the Catalyst Collaborative Presents Staged Readings of On Ego

Catalyst Collaborative at MIT (CC@MIT), a collaboration between MIT and URT, presents On Ego, the fourth in a series of free, staged readings of plays exploring science, December 4-5, 2006. Co-written by playwright Mick Gordon and neuropsychologist Paul Broks — and inspired by Broks' best-selling book Into the Silent Land —On Ego examines the idea of the self.

When a teleportation experiment goes slightly wrong, a neuroscientist ends up being duplicated. Faced with the proposition of two selves, he wonders who the real “him” is, and is plunged into a high-stakes game stemming from one of science’s greatest riddles: how does the brain construct a self? How does, in fact, meat become mind? The stakes of the dramatic conflict are raised by the personal relationships between the characters: a father, a husband, and a wife with slowly progressing brain cancer. Juxtaposing “ego theory” with “bundle theory,” On Ego explores whether we are simply a collection of cells or feeling, loving, thinking individuals.

Monday, December 4, at 7:30 p.m.
MIT Room 10-250 (enter 77 Massachusetts Ave.)
Followed by open discussion led by Robert Desimone, director, McGovern Center for Brain Research, MIT.
Info: (617) 253-ARTS (2787)

Tuesday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre (820 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge)
Followed by open discussion led by psychologist and award-winning writer Lauren Slater, author of "Welcome to My Country" and "Prozac Diary," and a reception to update audiences about the progress of the Central Square Theater.
Info: (781) 643-6916 or info@undergroundrailwaytheater.org

Seating for the readings of On Ego is limited; no tickets or reservations are necessary.

Directed by Jon Lipsky, the readings will feature performances by Stephen Russell, Wes Sanders, and Debra Wise. Special appearances will also be made by supporting actors from MIT’s student body.