To my mother Dolores, who in her youth spent many a day in the woods by the stream, writing. To have a chance to emulate the best of both mother and father in life is a gift beyond compare. These performances are for you.

Thank you for joining us today. In this section you’ll find some info about the history of the play and the way it was created.

The creation of this play began with a simple experiment; I challenged to myself to journal about my personal history in math as a way to become a better writer. Writing led to reading my work aloud in a writing workshop, which led to my colleagues urging me to turn the story into a solo play.

I toyed with the idea, but felt apprehensive about it for many reasons. One was my sense that in the working world of theater, many would put autobiographical solos at the bottom of the list of pursuits, for example in comparison to respectable projects such as re-envisioning the classics.

I also struggled with a feeling that the many unexpected roadblocks I encountered as a woman, both from without and within, while an essential part of my story, were things I should keep to myself. Even after I’d left math, even while delighting in watching my artist friends create intensely revealing monologues about their personal histories, families, dating or work, I still felt that sharing stories from my mathematical past was somehow off-limits.

Workshop feedback on my nascent play only deepened my hesitation. Women responded with the righteous anger of recognition, while men looked puzzled. I fell in love with theater in large part because of its capacity to unite an audience, and I wasn’t achieving that. So, despite having a solid draft, I shelved the play—literally—printing it out and stuffing it onto the back of a shelf above my desk.

Then one day I read a news story that changed the course of my life. Harvard’s president at the time, Larry Summers, had suggested that women might be underrepresented in math and science because they were inherently less capable than men. MIT biologist Nancy Hopkins, who was in the room, got up and left, saying that if she’d stayed, “I would have either blacked out or thrown up.”

The fallout was enormous: Summers was eventually ousted, and Hopkins endured heavy criticism. Learning this, I realized that—even if I was still afraid—my story as an artist, a woman, and a “recovering mathematician” might offer something fresh and uniquely of value to the conversation.

Upon revisiting my work on the play, I finally found the tone I wanted, through the perspective of compassion.

Looking back, it seemed to me that everyone I'd encountered in my academic adventures was doing their best, even when they seemingly fell short—including me. I was guided by something I’d learned long ago in Sunday school and which I hold in my heart to this day: defend your neighbor, speak well of them, and explain their actions in the kindest way.

The resulting play, Truth Values, has astonished me. Since its premiere, more than 22,000 people have seen it play live in more than 65 theaters across the U.S. and Canada. It has sparked more than 85 panel discussions with leading experts in STEM and belonging, which led to my alma mater, MIT, sponsoring a pilot project to add a community aspect to the show with related educational programming.

This project has also been transformative for me as an artist. My mission as an artist has always been to stir the soul, and how incredibly gratifying it has been to greet so many audience members thanking me with laughter and with tears in their eyes for telling this story that they feel is also their story.

I hope the play stirs you too. And afterward, please join our community to continue the conversation.

The facts of this story are autobiographical. All the characters and names are fictionalized.