Q: Ada had an astounding impact on the advancement of computer programming, and we interact with her work every day through our phones or television or computers. Can you talk a bit about what it’s like to portray a woman who actually lived and give voice to her when many may not know who she is? And how do you strike a balance between honoring both what we know about the real Ada and also Lauren Gunderson’s version of her?
A: Getting to portray an intelligent progressive woman nearly buried by history has been an honor and a thrill.
In current day, seeing women coming forward and leaving a mark on history seems a new idea. In some ways it is. But despite the constant shushing and silencing of the male-dominated world we live in, women have ALWAYS been making waves, moving mountains, and changing the world. Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Harriet Tubman, Joan of Arc, Susan B Anthony, Anne Frank, Queen Victoria, Sojourner Truth, Sacajawea, Eleanor Roosevelt, Grace Cooper, Naomi Parker, Margaret Sanger, Jane Goodall, Indira Gandhi, Shirley Chisholm, Sally Ride, Henrietta Leavitt, Ching Shih — the list truly is endless. Ada is among them as the first human to create binary code. She died so young it makes me wonder what else she could’ve invented.
What I love about Ada and how Lauren (the playwright) has given her such life is that she had a bad ‘past’, bad health, bad ‘decorum’ and STILL she created something beyond most of what society could even DREAM of. Of course, when writing a play, you can only reveal a story of humanity and kindness and genius in just an hour and forty-five minutes, something to help the audience empathize and recognize their own humanity in a short time. Lauren has taken bits and pieces of a crazy time in history surrounding a protege genius who could have a 5 hour play about her life and still not cover all that her and her family went through during this time-not to mention her very famous father, the epic poet Lord Byron. Even still, Lauren captures the simplicity of how a human with a mind of a computer can love, be loved, and navigate her way through the time she was given to leave an imprint that changed the course of history forever. I think of Ada and thank her for the world of communication, advancement, and over all connection she has given us. Her difference on the world has taken us from zero to one and beyond.
I hope you read about her. I hope you come see a play about her. I hope you look up all those women I mentioned before-especially the ones you’ve never heard of. As you look them up, think of Ada and the chance she has given you to gain knowledge, to communicate with your loved ones, to progress yourself into the future, where Ada believed we as humans could better the world with her ideas. Let’s prove her right.
