A First Class Man at 45th Street Theater

Alter Ego presents A First Class Man, by David Freeman, at 45th Street Theater from 5 - 21 Oct 2006.

A First Class Man is the story of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a shipping clerk living in India in the 1910�s who possessed an innate genius and a full time passion for producing complex mathematical theorems and equations but who had no formal training. Was he a fraud? Not according to the eminent British mathematician and Fellow of Trinity College, G.H.. Hardy, who recognizes Ramanujan�s talent and invites him to come to Cambridge. One problem: Ramanujan�s strict religious orthodoxy forbids him to travel overseas.

A First Class Man explores the complex and dysfunctional relationship between Hardy�s precise world of mathematics and scientific orthodoxy that clashes with Ramanujan�s more intuitive and spiritual relationship with numbers. In the end we discover that the stripped down and sequestered world of mathematics and academia cannot keep out human frailties and cultural differences.

Directed by Kareem Fahmy, A First Class Man features Bobby Abid, Chriselle Almeida, Amir Arison, Kelly Eubanks, Steve French, Davis Hall, Timothy Roselle, Doug Simpson, Vikram Somaya and Radhika Vaz.

Set design by Jeffery Eisenmann, with costumes by Chloe Chapin, lighting by Bryan Keller and sound by Andrew Papadeas.