A Study Guide for Prince Gomolvilas's "The Theory of Everything"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Prince Gomolvilas's "The Theory of Everything", excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: May 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781410393715

Book preview

17

The Theory of Everything

Prince Gomolvilas

2002

Introduction

Thai American playwright Prince Gomolvilas's two-act play The Theory of Everything (2002) is both tightly focused—taking place in a single static setting over just a couple of days with an entirely Asian American cast—and impressively expansive, encompassing a wide range of personalities and situations in its seven characters while hinging on the possibility, however remote, of extraterrestrial visitors to Earth. Billed as a comedy/drama, the play derives much of its narrative edge from the unique situation Gomolvilas has conceived: a weekly gathering of folks watching for UFOs on the roof of a Las Vegas wedding chapel. The gathering is infused with energy when one of them reports seeing something, inspiring a twenty-four-hour vigil for a possible return. However, the narrative is driven above all by the characters’ attempts to work out the problems in their various life situations, testing ties of family, friendship, and love.

Author Biography

Khamolpat Gomolvilas Was Born On August 28, 1972, In Indianapolis, Indiana, To Parents Who Immigrated From Thailand. The Name Prince Was Arbitrarily Bestowed On Him By His Kindergarten Teacher, Who Could Not Pronounce His Real First Name And Balked At His Nickname, Bin. The Family Moved To Southern California When Gomolvilas Was Seven, And He Grew Up Mostly In The Small City Of Monrovia. He Has Also Lived In Bangkok, Thailand.

After high school, he earned a bachelor's degree in film at San Francisco State University, which was where he saw his first play, David Mamet's Oleanna. He stayed on at San Francisco State and earned a master of fine arts degree in playwriting, with his creations being mostly about werewolves, as he told American Theatre writer Jean Schiffman. In his personal life, Gomolvilas came out as gay when he was twenty-four years old.

Gomolvilas kicked off his career by earning the Lawrence and Lee Playwriting Award in 1994 for All Men Are Liars. His 1998 play Donut Holes in Orbit was published in Ensemble Studio Theatre Marathon 1998: One-Act Plays, edited by Marisa Smith. His plays often feature some sort of supernatural element or magic realism. Big Hunk o' Burnin' Love (1998) revolves around a Thai American man's need to marry by age thirty to avoid spontaneously combusting, as per a family curse, whereas in Bee (2001), a young Korean American man is invisible to everyone but a