Full casting and further details have been announced for Marin Theatre Company and Round House Theatre’s digital co-production of The Catastrophist by America’s most produced playwright, Lauren Gunderson.

The world premiere is based on the life and work of award-winning American virologist Dr Nathan Wolfe and will be available to stream from 26 January - 28 February.

Somewhat relevant at this moment in time, the story follows Wolfe (also Gunderson’s husband) who proposed a plan to protect the economy from pandemics years before the COVID-19 outbreak. It explores work combatting epidemics like Ebola and swine flu, his life as a loving father and son, and Tikkun Olam, the Jewish concept of healing at the center of it all.

The one-man show is directed by Marin Theatre Company Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis and stars William DeMeritt (Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole World, HBO'sThe Normal Heart).

Gunderson said: “You think you know your partner of a decade. And then you attempt to write a play about them. When Jasson Minadakis posed the idea of writing a new play about my husband, I initially rejected it. But the idea started to make more and more sense. Of course, I told Nathan what I was writing and asked his permission, but I didn’t let him read it or see it until the very first rehearsal with our brilliant actor, Bill DeMerritt. I wanted him to not only be the subject of the play, but its first audience. He laughed. He cried. He gave me several notes on the science. This play has both the hardest play I've ever written and the most meaningful. What a joy to share it so widely so soon.“

Adds Marin Theatre Company Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis: “When the reality sunk in that we would not be in theatres in 2020, Lauren and I began discussing projects that could live between the worlds of theatre and film in a virtual space, and The Catastrophist went straight into development as a new commission. A work of great intimacy and immediacy, The Catastrophist is like nothing Lauren has attempted before, a startling portrait of one of our most important scientific thinkers. I’m delighted to be partnering with Ryan and Round House on this unique experience and look forward to the conversations it sparks across our country.”

The show has been filmed on stage in Marin’s Boyer Theatre and will be presented entirely digitally. Minadakis is joined on the production by lighting designer Wen-Ling Liao, composer and sound designer Chris Houston and costume designer Sarah Smith.

Audiences are encouraged to gather a small list of household items which will be cued during the play to experience and interact with. For more information, please click here.