COLD
SPRING HARBOR, N.Y., Dec. 2, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- Humans convey a wide range of emotions through
facial expressions. But emotions aren't inherently human. Anyone
with a pet dog or cat knows animals also use facial expressions to
communicate with us and each other. Why have these emotions and
facial expressions been conserved throughout evolution?
That is what famed Italian actress Isabella Rossellini explores in her new witty
and provocative one-woman show, Darwin's Smile, coming to
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's (CSHL's) Grace Auditorium for a
two-day run, Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5,
2023. Written and performed by Rossellini, the play takes
inspiration from The Expression of Emotions on Man and
Animals by Charles
Darwin.
Darwin's Smile brings together theater and science
to explore empathy—a necessity for the art of acting and the
study of animal behavior. "It seemed that these two interests of
mine were both distinct and separate: one satisfied my heart, while
the other satisfied my brain," Rossellini says. With comically
colorful costumes and props, she shows how acting can help us
understand animals and vice versa.
"I loved it," says Helen Hou,
assistant professor and neuroscientist at CSHL. Hou attended the
show's Long Island premiere on
August 12, 2022. "That love of
animals, love of science, and her bold capturing of it is so fun
and inspiring."
Hou studies natural behavior, such as facial expressions, and
the brain circuits that control them. "The face is really a window
into our mind," she says. "We can tell a lot about a person, what
they're trying to communicate, and how they're doing from their
facial expressions. As Darwin illustrated, many of our facial
expressions are shared among animals."
Like Hou's research, Rossellini's acting explores facial
expressions to make revelations about the human condition. Her
offbeat and playful new show transforms complex science into
entertaining lessons that leave audiences more attuned to the
nuance of nonverbal communication.
CSHL will host a special performance of Darwin's Smile at
Grace Auditorium on March 4, with
doors opening at 5 p.m. The show
starts at 6 p.m., followed by a
reception and Q&A with Rossellini led by Hou. An encore
performance (sans Q&A/reception) will be held March 5, with doors opening at 3 p.m. and showtime at 4
p.m. Tickets are available now.
About Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory
Founded in 1890, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has shaped
contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in
cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. Home
to eight Nobel Prize winners, the private, not-for-profit
Laboratory employs 1,000 people including 600 scientists, students
and technicians. The Meetings & Courses Program hosts more than
12,000 scientists from around the world each year on its campuses
in Long Island and in Suzhou,
China. The Laboratory's education
arm also includes an academic publishing house, a graduate school
and programs for middle, high school, and undergraduate students
and teachers. For more information, visit www.cshl.edu
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SOURCE Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory