Louis Slotin Sonata

At 3:20 PM on Tuesday, May 21, 1946 Louis Slotin's hand slipped-- a small, practically insignificant blunder, except that Slotin was the chief -bomb builder at Los Alamos, and at that fateful moment he held in his hands a plutonium bomb core named "Rufus".  The slip caused a chain reaction that in turn released a deadly "prompt burst" of radiation.  Slotin and others saw a blue glow and felt a momentary flux of heat on their faces.  Slotin flung the shell to the floor but it was too late. The damage was done.  In the milliseconds it took for the plutonium to spit its deadly neutrons, Louis Slotin became a walking dead man.

With a structure inspired by classical music's sonata allegro form, LOUIS SLOTIN SONATA traces a brilliant scientist's last nine days, as his body and mind gradually succumb to the chaos wrecked by radiation.  Reliving the moment of his accident again and again, Slotin slowly makes his own unique way to redemption.

Originally commissioned by A Contemporary Theatre as part of their now defunct FirstACT play development program, Louis Slotin Sonata premiered at Circle X Theatre in Los Angeles and went on to win the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding World Premiere.

From the 2001 New York City production of the play.  Center is William Salyers as Louis Slotin.  Also picture are Joel Rooks (white hair, mustache), Amy Love (the only woman), and William Cwikowski (pointing).  (Apologies to the others whom a poor memory prevents me from naming.)

Author's note - this production still is taken from the top of Act II - the "Comic Book Version" of the accident.  Certainly few if any of the men in the lab that fateful day would have been wearing lab coats.  And none of them fell prostrate like this  after the prompt burst.  I would hate for anyone to follow in the foolish footsteps of earlier Slotin researchers and take such a depiction as some sort of accurate portrayal of the events.

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