By Marie HaalandSPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

In honor of Charles Darwin’s 207th birthday, Hofstra celebrated Darwin Day by putting on a short play in the Guthart Cultural Center.
Dr. Dan Rubey, professor of library and information services, gave an introduction. He explained that Hofstra has done many different things for Darwin Day in the past, including a Rap Guide to Religion in 2015 and discussions with Hofstra students who had recently returned from the Galapagos Islands – a place which had a profound impact on Darwin – in 2008.
“Professors Russell Burke and Bret Bennington and I visited the Darwin Exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, and that exhibit convinced us we could have fun drawing on Darwin’s letters and journals to stage the major events of his life and using students as our actors,” Rubey said of how it all started.
Dr. Bret Bennington, professor of geology, environmental studies and sustainability, led the performance this year and played the role of Darwin. Ten students also had roles in the play, from Darwin’s wife and first cousin, Emma, to his colleagues and other scientists.
The play, which lasted about an hour, covered Darwin’s life from his college years to after the publication of his book, “On the Origin of Species.” Published in November 1859, Darwin referred to it as “the chief work of [his] life.”
Dr. Lauren Kozol, assistant dean of the Honors College, who was one of the narrators for the play, said, “It was loads of fun.” As a humanities professor for Culture and Expression (C&E), Kozol has heard lectures about “On the Origin of Species,” which has been used for the social science side of C&E in the past. She said that it was “good to hear [the letters] out loud, from both an aesthetic and a scientific perspective.” Kozol, known for her elaborate performances at C&E, joked about bringing this to the C&E stage in the future.
When talking about why they chose to focus such a big celebration on Darwin, Rubey said, “In addition to being a towering figure in the development of modern science, he was also a wonderful writer. His journals tell stories of his travels, the growth of his scientific theories and details of his family life. We thought acting out the development of his theories of evolution and natural selection would give us a way to explore how scientific ideas are created, not just handed down from one textbook to another, but worked out in the context of a richly documented personal life.”
Kozol concurred, saying that, “One of the things I like best about Darwin is that he writes beautifully.”
When asked what could be done to improve the play, senior geology major Emily Dorward suggested adding “more props, more costumes, more staging,” but said that it was fun.
Since the event was technically a birthday party, cake and ice cream were served after the performance.