From the creator of "The West Wing"
Aaron Sorkin’s extraordinary, ambitious new play
about the birth of television

The Farnsworth Invention

In 1929, two ambitious visionaries race against each other to introduce to the world a revolutionary new device called “television.” By the fall of 1921, an Idaho farm boy Philo T. Farnsworth had drawn a diagram of an “image dissector tube” for a prototype electronic television system. As he seeks to develop a functioning machine, Farnsworth is swept into an epic struggle with David Sarnoff, an enterprising media mogul who foresees the lucrative potential of this powerful cultural and scientific invention. Only one man will unlock the key to the greatest innovation of the 20th century and rule the airwaves. Drawn to the story about the race to create an operable television and the competition for the patent right to control the future of this technology, Aaron Sorkin describes his play as “an optimistic story about the spirit of exploration” in a National Public Radio interview.
Recommended for mature audiences. Strong Language.

"Inspiring...Brilliant...Knockout...Flawless"
"What emerges is a paean to the spirit of exploration and invention in the American
century — a theme holding particular resonance at a time when many are wondering
whether America has lost its scientific edge, enterprise and can-do spirit."
Read the Houston Chronicle review, Alley’s Farnsworth Invention is good TV onstage.

Jeffrey Bean and Brandon Hearnsberger on KUHF’s The Front Row discuss The Farnsworth Invention. Go here.

Read the Houston Chronicle article, Aaron Sorkin shows inventiveness with Farnsworth.

Lead Sponsors Enbridge Energy Company, Inc., The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts
Supporting Sponsor Baker Botts L.L.P.