Editing Carl Djerassi (section)

===Science-in-theatre===
After his success with prose literature in the Science-in-Fiction genre, Djerassi started to write plays.<ref name=SFGate>{{cite news|last1=Guthrie|first1=Julian|title=Act 2 for pill's inventor: Carl Djerassi writing plays at 91|url=http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Act-2-for-pill-s-inventor-Carl-Djerassi-5824940.php|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=SFGate|date=October 15, 2014}}</ref> Theatre, even more so than prose, seemed to fulfill his desire to work in a more “dialogical” environment than the monological natural sciences had allowed him to do.<ref name=Guardian2014>{{cite news|last1=Trueman|first1=Matt|title=New play by Carl Djerassi, inventor of the pill, explores philosophers' sex lives|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/apr/29/carl-djerassi-inventor-pill-sex-lives-philosophers-foreplay|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=The Guardian|date=April 29, 2014}}</ref> According to British director Andy Jordan, who has produced all of his plays in England, Djerassi's dramatic works are "not wholly or straightforwardly naturalistic or realistic […but] avowedly text-driven, where ideas, themes, words and language were majorly important, a fact I had always to be conscious of as the director.2<ref name="Jordan">Andi Jordan, "Carl Djerassi's Science-in-Theatre Plays: The Theatrical Realization," in: Walter Grünzweig, ed., ''The SciArtist: Carl Djerassi's Science-in-Literature in Transatlantic and Interdisciplinary Contexts'', Berlin et al.: Lit Verlag, 2012, p. 119.</ref>

Djerassi's first play, ''An Immaculate Misconception'' (1998), dealing with the in vitro fertilization procedure ICSI,<ref name=Levy2000>{{cite news|last1=Levy|first1=Dawn|title=Djerassi's science-in-fiction explores sex and reproduction|url=http://news.stanford.edu/pr/00/0002231djerassi.html|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=Stanford News Service|date=February 23, 2000|archive-date=April 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408200821/http://news.stanford.edu/pr/00/0002231djerassi.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> was followed by two plays about priority struggles in the history of science, ''Oxygen'' (co-authored with [[Roald Hoffmann]], 1999)<ref name=Stanford2001>{{cite news|last1=Zare|first1=Richard N.|title=Play co-authored by Carl Djerassi offers caricature of Nobel Prize selection process|url=http://news.stanford.edu/news/2001/october3/nobel-oxygen103.html|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=Stanford Report|date=October 3, 2001}}</ref> and ''Calculus'' (2002),<ref name=Campos>{{cite news|last1=Campos|first1=Liliane|title=Examining Newton's darker side|url=http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2004/aug/09/examining-newtons-darker-side|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=Physics World|date=August 9, 2004}}</ref> and a drama at the intersection of chemistry and art history, ''Phallacy'' (2004).<ref name=Rohn>{{cite news|last1=Rohn|first1=Jennifer|title=Science and Art go head-to-head|url=http://www.lablit.com/article/30|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=LabLit.com|date=April 23, 2005}}</ref> ''Ego'' (2003, also produced under the title ''Three on a Couch''),<ref name="Grünzweig">Walter Grünzweig, ed., ''The SciArtist: Carl Djerassi's Science-in-Literature in Transatlantic and Interdisciplinary Contexts'', Berlin et al.: Lit Verlag, 2012.</ref> together with the docudrama ''Four Jews on Parnassus'' (2006, publ. 2008)<ref name=Four>{{cite news|title=Featured Research – Play Highlights Literary Career of Renowned Chemist, Carl Djerassi|url=http://shc.stanford.edu/news/research/featured-research-play-highlights-literary-career-renowned-chemist-carl-djerassi|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=Stanford Humanities Center|date=February 1, 2010|archive-date=February 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203135429/http://shc.stanford.edu/news/research/featured-research-play-highlights-literary-career-renowned-chemist-carl-djerassi|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ''Foreplay'' (2010),<ref name=Guardian2014/> are the only three dramatic pieces that do not deal with science-in-literature but rather carry the notion of intellectual competitiveness into literature, philosophy and the humanities. ''Taboos'' (2006), a complex play between reproductive, gender and political issues, returns to Djerassi's central concerns as a scientist;<ref name=NYT2008>{{cite news|last1=Genzlinger|first1=Neil|title=Who's Your Daddy? Your Uncle|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/theater/reviews/24tabo.html|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=September 24, 2008}}</ref> his 2012 play ''Insufficiency'' is a bitter satire of both the scientific community and academic environments.<ref name=SFGate/> ''[[ICSI, sex in the age of mechanical reproduction]]'' (2002), was taken to theaters and also to classrooms as a pedagogic wordplay, in many countries, including Spain and Argentina (by collaboration with Dr [[Àgata Baizán]] and Alberto Diaz) where it opened the VIII Latinoamerican and Caribbean Biotechnology meeting [[Red Biotechnology|REDBIO]]-Argentina 2013 and featured in universities and theaters.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Djerassi|first=Carl|date=April 10, 2021|title=Performance Schedule of ICSI (a pedagogic wordplay for two voices)|url=http://www.djerassi.com/classroom/index.html|url-status=live|website=Djerassi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020604190159/http://www.djerassi.com:80/classroom/index.html |archive-date=2002-06-04 }}</ref>

As in his novels, Djerassi's plays incorporate the life and achievements of (sometimes famous) scientists as well as new scientific technologies. The science in his plays is always scientifically plausible although the dramatic personae and locations are fictitious.<ref name=Valsler>{{cite news|last1=Valsler|first1=Ben|title=Carl Djerassi – chemistry and theatre|url=http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2014/09/carl-djerassi-chemistry-art-fiction-theatre|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=Chemistry World|date=September 30, 2014}}</ref> By placing scientists and research into dramatic worlds, he raises critical questions about the sciences as cultural systems and looks into internal conflicts and contradictions in science and between scientists.<ref name=Priest>{{cite book |editor-last1=Priest|editor-first1=Susanna Hornig|title=Encyclopedia of science and technology communication|date=2010|publisher=SAGE|location=Thousand Oaks, Calif.|isbn=978-1-4129-5920-9|page=742|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1F2AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA742|access-date=February 2, 2015|chapter=Science Theater}}</ref> The constant competition between them, the need for priority in new scientific discoveries even if the required speed necessitates risky and immoral means, as well as the problematic consequences of new discoveries are important topics of the plays.
 
Connected with many of these questions is the role of women in the sciences (including researchers’ wives and female friends). Djerassi's plays recognize the special contributions women make as scientists and to science, both directly and indirectly. His female characters are usually depicted as strong and independent, proving a strong impact of feminist thinking on his work.<ref name="Grünzweig"/>

Djerassi's plays have found their way into theaters around the globe and have been translated into many European and Asian languages.<ref name=SFGate/> Djerassi repeatedly revised his plays and some of them have different versions and multiple endings<ref name=Oxygen3>{{cite news|title=Good Chemistry Yields 'Oxygen'|url=http://www.djerassi.com/oxygen3/|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=Science & Technology|date=April 30, 2001}}</ref> (especially ''An Immaculate Misconception'': the nationalities of the main characters vary, also the endings). Where possible, Djerassi also cooperated with directors in the production of dramatic performances.<ref name=Curtain>{{cite news|last1=Calamia|first1=Donald V.|title=Curtain Calls|url=http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=15585|access-date=February 2, 2015|work=Between the Lines News|date=September 1, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202185433/http://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=15585|archive-date=February 2, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> All of his plays have been published in book form, many of them in a number of languages. Some of them can be downloaded from his website.