A semi-musical about the life and career Marie Sklodowska Curie? Why not! It’s the Fringe Festival, after all. Sadie Bowman and Ricky Coates put on a hilarious (and scientifically enlightening) reenactment of Marie and Pierre Curie and their major impacts in the chemical and physical bodies of science.

Performing to a packed and sweaty house, the Matheatre duo dropped knowledge on us with their hour-long story, “Curie Me Away!” From humble beginnings as a secret student in Russia-occupied Poland to wife, mother, and storied scientist, the story unfolds with plenty of laughs. Both Sadie and Ricky also appear to be qualified mimes, bringing to life imaginary child-rearing and scientific experimentation with equal alacrity. I could truly envision Marie both keeping house and stacking Nobel Prizes like Cracker-Jack prizes.

The pun being a favored tool of writers to get across complex ideas in easily-digestible pieces, this performance was full of them. I have to assume every element on the periodic table was mentioned in some tongue-in-cheek rhyme or slam poetry line. Even the romantic courting song performed by Pierre to woo the hesitant Marie was an amorous compendium of elements matched to emotions.

The play is well done, exceptionally written, and very informative. As it turns out, that is exactly the point. This duo tours the country (and the world) to mostly schools and other groups where science and art meet to spread the word on not only Marie, but other scientific and mathematical heroes. I was pretty impressed to hear that they lived in a car and subsisted on performing. Minimally, it drove me to pay $1 for a dime-sized button with a radish on it.

The only aspect of the Marie Curie story that they (probably rightfully) don’t mention is the story of the Radium Girls and Marie’s ultimate death, likely resulting from a lifetime of exposure to radiation.

I should also mention I saw the two of them at another event, in their Fringe costumes, dancing with the two aliens from the Forealism Tribe.

At Gabriel’s Corner, you can still catch “Curie Me Away!” Thursday June 7 at 9 p.m. and the June 9 at 8:30 p.m.

John David Back is a Cincinnati native who lives and works in OTR. He’s an avid reader and a mediocre writer who loves the experience of art and beauty. Tell him what he should experience and send fan mail to johndavidback@gmail.com.