‘Young Nerds of Color’ – Arranged by Melinda Lopez; Directed by Dawn M. Simmons; Original Music Composed by Nona Hendryx; Set Design by Shelley Barish; Costume Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Lighting Design by Andrea Sofia Sala; Presented by the Underground Railway Theatre at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge through March 20.

by Mike Hoban

As a young boy growing up in the sixties, my only exposure to scientists was through Saturday afternoon science fiction movies on “Creature Double Feature”, which showed mostly cheesy black-and-white films like The Deadly Mantis and It Came From Outer Space. The scientists were – nearly without exception – older white men, except when the offering was Destroy All Monsters or some other campy romp from Japan. As I grew older and my tastes matured somewhat, depictions of scientists on film and TV were still mostly old white guys, although white women scientists began to appear occasionally onscreen. What audiences didn’t see were scientists that were people of color. 

Read more “Central Square’s ‘Nerds’ Makes Strong Case for Why Representation Matters”