Read a preview of Theatre Nova’s “Irrational,” in the Detroit News
The Pythagorean theorem is common knowledge, but playwright David Wells saw material for a rock musical in the bizarre true story of the man behind the math.
The Ann Arbor-based Wells wrote the book for the play “Irrational,” which will make its world premiere run at the Yellow Barn, April 22-May 15, in a production by Theatre Nova. The play follows the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras, whose cult of followers is upended when a newcomer named Hippasus introduced the concept of irrational numbers.