Palo Alto troupe stages ‘Farnsworth Invention’

Parts of the story are alternately narrated by Sarnoff (Michael Sally) and Farnsworth (Dominic Falletti.) Thirteen other actors portray some 90 characters.

What makes this PAP production unique is that it stirred up controversy before its opening mainly because it inaccurately says that Farnsworth lost his patent case to Sarnoff when just the opposite was true.

Several people voiced their concerns to local newspapers. Farnsworth supporters in the courtyard of the Lucie Stern Center in Palo Alto quietly handed out leaflets about him at the June 14 opening.

Some held handmade signs with such messages as “Philo won,” “Friend of Philo” and “Truth — Philo won.” Two held a banner proclaiming Farnsworth’s induction into the TV Hall of Fame in 2013.

A program insert from playwright Sorkin asserts that the play clearly shows that Farnsworth invented electronic TV (other inventors had tried other approaches) and that Sarnoff’s RCA stole it from him.

Sorkin also says that he condensed many years of legal wrangling into one scene. He concludes, “... in the end, the inventor of television died broke and in obscurity, and that was the larger truth I was getting at.”

Director Dave Sikula’s program note opens with “The story you are about to see is true. Mostly.” He also acknowledges that “the last big decision announced in Act Two ... went precisely the opposite way.”

The play starts with Farnsworth (1906-1971) getting his idea while plowing a field in Idaho. From there it goes through his teen and young adult years when he married a fellow Mormon, Pem (Jennifer Gregoire), and pursued funding to develop his idea.

These scenes alternate with Sarnoff’s youth, when he and his Jewish family left what is now Belarus for the United States when he was 10. His career in electronic communications began when he worked for the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. and rose from there.

Although the overall play is interesting, it’s heavy on scientific information that might go over the heads of some people. However, others in tech-savvy Silicon Valley will probably understand it.

The set by Kuo-Hao Lo features a large TV screen showing video projections by George Mauro.

A problem with this production is that director Sikula moves the action and dialogue so fast that it’s sometimes hard to connect with the characters, differentiate among them and comprehend what they’re saying.

Along those lines, Falletti is too animated as Farnsworth, and, at least on opening night, Sally muffed some of his lines as Sarnoff. Otherwise, he was convincing.

One of the most interesting segments of the play opens Act 2. It’s a clip from a 1957 broadcast of TV’s “I’ve Got a Secret” hosted by Garry Moore. His guest was Farnsworth, whose secret was “I invented electronic television.”

Incidentally, the show was sponsored by Winston cigarettes, the logo prominently displayed in front of Moore and the four-person panel trying to guess the secret.

After that, Act 2 gets bogged down in legal wrangling and behind-the-scenes skullduggery that reflects poorly on Sarnoff. However, it ends with another TV clip, this one of Apollo 11 about to blast off for the first manned mission to the moon in 1969.

Despite the controversy, it’s clear that Farnsworth did indeed invent television and that he was a genius. However, he deserves a better play and a better production than this.

A detailed analysis of the play’s facts and fiction is available at www.thefarnsworthinvention.com/intro.html.

“The Farnsworth Invention” will continue at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, through June 29. For tickets and information call (650) 329-0891 or visit www.paplayers.org.