With Galileo as his guide along the space-time continuum, Copernicus learns that his work would ignite controversy and incur the wrath of the Church. He also learns that some of his scientific heirs, such as Einstein, would see their own work turned to the purposes of war.

Is one person's truth-telling worth such consequences?

That's the dilemma Rose has his main character wrestle with in Copernicus Rising, which premiered at SIUC's McLeod Theater last fall. As Copernicus asks himself, "Who am I to dare to shape the universe?"

Rose wanted his play, a historical drama infused with surreal comedy, to both entertain and educate. "Copernicus and his theories changed everything, not just science but philosophy," Rose says. "Suddenly, human beings were no longer the center of the universe, and the implications of that were huge."

Why Copernicus? "I was doing some visualization exercises [to generate ideas] and I had a mental picture of an old man sitting in a stone tower looking at the stars," Rose says. "I didn't know who he was. I began doing reading on astronomy and that led me to Copernicus.

"There were so many aspects of his life that lent themselves to drama. He was handed his finished [book] on his deathbed."

Rose's plays have been performed in several venues. Most recently, a short play of his called Antarctica was staged at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Milwaukee in January.

He credits his peers and mentor David Rush, head of the playwriting program, for much of his success. "SIUC has made me stretch as an artist, and I've found myself working in [new] genres and styles," he says.

Rose's next big idea: to start his own theater company after he graduates this May.

—by Marilyn Davis, ed.