Ada and the Engine

by Lauren Gunderson

As the British Industrial Revolution dawns, young Ada Byron Lovelace (daughter of the flamboyant and notorious Lord Byron) sees the boundless creative potential in the “analytic engines” of her friend and soul-mate, Charles Babbage, inventor of the first mechanical computer. Ada envisions a whole new world where art and information converge – a world she might not live to see. A music-laced story of love, friendship, and the edgiest dreams of the future. Jane Austen meets Steve Jobs in this poignant pre-tech romance heralding the computer age. Original music by The Kilbanes on request. More at: adaplay.tumblr.com

Genres: Plays, Historical Fiction, Theatre, Drama

79 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one as it’s coming up this spring on the Cardinal Theater season. If you don’t know the story of Ada Lovelace, you’re missing out. And you probably wouldn’t be reading this review without her. Passionate, creative, and ambitious, the whirlwind daughter of Lord Byron (yes, that Lord Byron) imagines a future where technology and art live together, where age is just a number, and where you are free to love.

I can’t wait for this show!

[Delaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, a Lauren Gunderson I actually like.

Probably because Ada was a much more nuanced character, and because while it was creative and innovative in its storytelling, it wasn't so in-your-face about the theatricality. I thought that the unique staging suggestions were actually quite beautiful, and could really see them making a beautiful production.

Even if there was a whole "you can tell she's modern because she doesn't like dresses." Which certainly did get on my nerves. But it was one comment so whatever.

[Cara (Wilde Book Garden) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was really, really enjoying this until the last few pages. Even with those, it's a great play.

Manages to show a beautiful connection between Ada and Charles without making it seem like Ada was completely defined by her relationships with men. (Limited and judged by? yes, but to me the play makes it clear this was a fault of other people and not a reflection of her own worth, strength, or personality.)

It was also an amazingly convincing relationship considering that as far as I know there is no evidence that Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace were ever together or in love.

Beyond that, it was a fascinating exploration of Ada's mind and dreams and how they were constantly coming up against people's expectations about her, both because of her gender and because of the sordid past of her father (Lord Byron. Yes, that Lord Byron.)

Even the somewhat divisive last scene really worked for me, up until those last few pages.

All in all, a brilliantly written play that still managed to emotionally connect with me despite its potentially mechanical subject matter.

[David!! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ada: That was just once.
Annabella: For you, the difference between zero and one is your entire world.

I am so squarely in the target audience for this play. This is a stage play about a famous computer scientist that ends with a giant musical number. The line above about zero and one... is it a bit on the nose? Maybe, but I love it anyway.

I know very little about the personal life of Ada Lovelace, but from what I've read, the Babbage "romance" was entirely invented and I could have done without it.

For me, reading this play was very much like experiencing Hamilton for the first time, in that I felt elated watching the protagonist triumph in the first act, and then the second act introduced tragedy and complications that deflate the initial triumph. That's not necessarily bad, but in this modern era, I feel this overriding feeling of "just let them have this".

[MB Shakespeare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lauren Gunderson takes the history of Ada Lovelace (Lord Byron's daughter), and Charles Babbage's work on the first renderings of what would later become the computer, and weaves a tender and at times volatile story of two people who are passionate about math and science. Under the shadow of her father's nefarious reputation, Ada holds her own and excels in contributing integral information and computations in a world where women were rarely heard. The platonic love between Charles and Ada may be conjecture, but Gunderson makes us believe and gives us the hope that, even with the disfavor from her mother, Ada forged ahead and made a way for other women to follow. Truly an enjoyable play.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this play 4 years ago and really enjoyed it. For whatever reason, I didn't take notice of the playwright at the time. I randomly found another work of hers on Audible, the Half-Life of Marie Curie, and discovered she wrote Ada and the Engine as well.

I'll have to re-read this and check out her other plays.

[Sophia M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this play for work! The lyricism of the language is gorgeous and, like Gunderson’s other plays, I loved the exploration into the life of a woman often forgotten by history.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooray for Lauren Gunderson! What a magnificent piece.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful and smart, and I’m very glad it introduced me to Ada.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

i do understand the appeal of lauren gunderson

[Paris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually i just watched the play but wanted to remember this because it was genuinely so good

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good but wasn’t my thing!

[Artemi Marketou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for the ZEST Reading Panel.

[Fred Zirm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gunderson is a marvelous writer, and this is probably the best of the half dozen or so plays of hers that I have read or seen. It reminds me of Stoppard's Arcadia in the way it creatively dramatizes the connection between the life of the mind and the life of the heart. No wonder she is the most produced writer in the U.S. I desperately wanted to direct this but lost out to someone else at a local community theater- so this is the opposite of sour grapes. If you like reading plays, read it. If you prefer seeing productions, see it once this pandemic is over. It is likely to pop up somewhere if you live in a theater-rich area.

[Pippin]

Another showstopper from Gunderson! With a bittersweet, hopeful story at its heart, Ada and the Engine employs all the experimental and supernatural tools at modern staging's disposal, from giving Ada herself closure that she never got in real life, to bounding across time and space, to making machines sing. A lovely, bright vision of computing that Lovelace & Babbage's miraculous creation deserves. Over too soon.

[Bree Glasbergen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore the optimism that shone through. The swift transitions of scenes and rapid fire letters helped to convey the passage of time effortlessly. Excited to see the ending activated.