Lauded as the most beautiful woman in the world, Hedy Lamarr’s glamour was matched by a genius mind, and her development of Spread Spectrum technology would become the basis of the Blue Tooth technology we use today.
Yet despite the adulation, Hedy Lamarr trod a lonely path, withdrawn from friends and family, and plagued by insecurity.
The Ecstasy of Hedy Lamarr tells the story of a woman beyond the reach of the world, yet desperate to find a sense of freedom in normality. It opens tonight in London.
Where: New Wimbledon Studio
When: 9-18 Oct
Ticket link: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-ecstasy-of-hedy-lamarr-premieres-season/studio-at-new-wimbledon-theatre/
Writer Graham Warrener tells us more.
Hedy Lamarr is an icon of Golden Age Hollywood. How have you approached bringing her to the stage?
That Hollywood ‘icon’ status is just one element of what was an incredibly colourful life for our heroine.
In writing the play as a two-hander, one of the main challenges was to find an actor that could play Hedy between the ages of 19 and 52 [Suzy Bloom takes on the role].
We wanted to move beyond the glossy, two-dimensional screen image and present the full, complex woman.
Hedy’s journey takes her from a vulnerable teenage star, via her glittering, yet ultimately confining, career as ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the World’ in Hollywood, and finally to her remarkable but often overlooked status as a genius inventor, the mastermind of frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology which paved the way for modern wireless communications like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
This arc culminates in the utter despondency of a forgotten starlet, arrested for shoplifting in her later years.
It’s been a significant, yet deeply rewarding challenge for the creative team to bring that immense journey to life, ensuring the audience sees the real, vulnerable Hedy beneath the glamour.
Glamorous and genius, Hedy was full of contradictions. Where was the starting point when deciding what to include in the play?
Initially, I was looking for a strong female role that could speak to women of all ages, a tale of talent and tenacity.
But as I delved into her history, I realised that the story was much darker and more tragic than I could ever have imagined.
The central contradiction we focused on was the conflict between her stunning beauty, which Hollywood capitalised on, and her brilliant intellect, which Hollywood dismissed.
In many ways, Hedy is a real-life Norma Desmond, trapped in a myth of Hollywood’s making—a woman who saw her true potential ignored for the sake of a beautiful facade.
That unfulfilled intellectual ambition became our narrative starting point.
How would you sell the play to an audience who may not know Hedy Lamarr, in one sentence?
As it says on the poster; ‘Beauty, Brains and Bluetooth’ – it tells it perfectly. It’s a heartbreaking journey through the life of a Hollywood goddess who used her genius to secretly help the war effort by inventing the technology that underpins all of our modern wireless devices.
Hedy was such a complex, misunderstood and incredibly talented woman, so we wanted to do her intelligence and also tragic reality justice, offering audiences a thrilling backstage pass to a life that Hollywood couldn’t contain.
What’s the future of the play after its Wimbledon premiere?
We’re very much hoping that we can develop the overall story with a larger cast, together with an increased production budget that will give us an opportunity to really show the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age – bigger frocks and bigger wigs!
The themes of a woman struggling to be taken seriously beyond her appearance, and the tragedy of unrecognised genius, are universal and have resonated.
We believe in solidifying Hedy Lamarr’s rightful place in history not just as a star, but as a technological pioneer.
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Find out more about Hedy Lamarr via the National Women’s History Museum.
This sounds like a terrific production and an impactful story. It was only in the last few months that I learned of Hedy Lamarr’s impact on technology. I’m all for celebrating the women behind the achievements of humanity! Thank you, Louise, for sharing. Bella