Cordillera Cares generously underwrites this special event
Cindy Engles generously underwrites the summer season of programming
This event is a Vail Symposium fundraiser – Lighthouse tickets are not available for this program.
J. Robert Oppenheimer is known as the father of the atomic bomb. As Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster feature film, “Oppenheimer,” captures the nation’s attention, Clay Jenkinson brings the character of the man to life through this enactment.
Tickets for this special event are $175 and include cocktails and hors d’oeuvres as well as the performance. $100 is considered a charitable contribution and your confirmation email serves as your gift acknowledgement letter. Donor benefits are not available for this event.
J. Robert Oppenheimer was the father of the Atomic Bomb; he was also a tragic character. In 1954, his security clearance was stripped from him by the U.S. Government. Although history has been generous to Oppenheimer and very hard on his critics, there is no doubt that Oppenheimer contributed to his own fall.
Clay Jenkinson’s first-person portrayal of Robert Oppenheimer is gripping–no prior graduate degree in quantum physics required!
Jenkinson tells the story of Los Alamos, of the dramatic test of the “gadget” in the New Mexican desert, the decision to use the bomb without warning on Japanese cities with a large civilian population, and the aftermath. Oppenheimer believed that humankind must evolve quickly to prevent a subsequent use of atomic weaponry in war, because he believed it would bring about the end of human civilization. In the end, Oppenheimer was rehabilitated by the Kennedy-Johnson Administration. After Edward. R Murrow interviewed him on the CBS program “See it Now,” Oppenheimer became a kind of cult figure for his melancholy, yet whimsical, genius.
Oppeneheimer is Jenkinson’s favorite Chautauqua character.
Recommended reading available at The Bookworm in Edwards:
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
