A Dangerous Personality

She explored Tibet, fought with Garibaldi, rode across India on the back of an elephant, was friends with Thomas Edison – a terror to the establishment, and a nightmare to the British Raj. Russian-born spiritualist and philosopher Helena Blavatsky lived everywhere from London to India to Hell’s Kitchen – and remains one of the most controversial figures in world religion. With her colleague, Henry Steele Olcott, she created Theosophy – the Science of Religion, The Secret Doctrine – Christ without the Church. Her ideas are as timely and thought-provoking now as then, and her personality and life were imagined on a colossal scale. Sallie Bingham’s new play brings this extraordinary woman, and her story to the stage.