To mark the centennial of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, there are events taking place from Berlin to Bozeman, Montana. Prominent among them is a two-day conference November 5-6 at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, where the physicist was a faculty member from 1933 to 1955.

“General Relativity at 100” is aimed, mostly, at an invited audience. But it opens on Wednesday, November 4 with a performance of a play at Princeton University’s Richardson Hall, Light Falls: Space, Time, and an Obsession of Einstein, that is open to the public. And for those who want to witness international experts trading ideas on diverse aspects of general relativity from cosmology to quantum gravity and from black holes to neutron stars, the entire conference can be live-streamed by logging on to the IAS website.

The celebration concludes with a recital for invited guests by violinist Joshua Bell and a screening of the new documentary Einstein’s Light by Nickolas Barris, who was Director’s Visitor in 2013 at the Institute and is the founder of Imaginary Films.

“It is a birthday party, but in many ways this is the home where the party should be celebrated foremost,” said Robbert Dijkgraaf, Leon Levy Professor and Director of the Institute. “It hasn’t escaped the world that general relativity is 100 years old, and there are many events. But no place is more appropriate to highlight this than Princeton.”

It was here that Einstein resided for 22 years, longer than he lived anywhere else, Dr. Dijkgraaf added. And it was here that the theory took shape. “It is a fascinating story of a great idea that becomes famous all over the world, but nothing happens for 50 years. And in the 50s, it becomes fashionable again,” he said. “And this is because of Princeton.”

The author of the play, Light Falls, is Brian Greene, a member from 1992 to 1993 in the Institute’s School of Natural Sciences and Professor of Theoretical Physics at Columbia University. The music is by Jeff Beal, who composed for the TV series House of Cards. The play is designed by 59 Productions, currently represented on Broadway by the musical An American in Paris. The director is Scott Faris of the television series Walking with Dinosaurs.

“This is a wonderful presentation about the struggle of Einstein coming to his great theory, mostly taken from letters he and others wrote,” said Dr. Dijkgraaf. “These are original voices describing the story. It wasn’t an ‘aha’ moment. He essentially struggled for 10 more years taking the theory from describing motion to describing space, time, and the whole universe. The piece is very much about the despair as he struggles and the elation as he finds his theory, and the physical evidence is presented that has transformed our way of thinking about space and time.”

Joshua Bell’s recital at the screening of the documentary Einstein’s Light marks the world premiere of Bruce Adolph’s score set to the final visualization of the film. The movie explores how scientific imagination and innovation advance knowledge, with Einstein and Dutch Nobel Laureate Hendrik Lorentz, whom Einstein regarded as a kind of father figure, as models.

“The film examines Einstein’s discoveries as well as modern examples of scientific imagination and innovation, highlighting institutions such as the Institute and others around the world,” reads a press release. “The score reflects the power of music as a catalyst for Einstein’s scientific creativity and his deep connection to the music of Mozart and Bach.”

“Barris wanted original music because music, particularly the violin, was so important to Einstein,” Dr. Dijkgraaf commented. “He commissioned these special pieces inspired by Einstein, and Joshua Bell will perform them. It’s a very important element. The music is, in some sense, capturing that spirit in a more accessible way.”

Dr. Dijkgraaf stresses the fact that Einstein only lived through 40 years of relativity. “He never witnessed the black hole or all of those theories,” he said. “This is a theory so powerful that it took 100 years to come to full bloom.”

For more information or to live stream the conference, visit www.ias.edu/gr100.