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Dr. Arthur Benjamin turns mathematics
into an engaging theatrical experience

Dr. Arthur Benjamin (right) and audience members

Who would have dreamed math could be fun? Certainly not students sweating over difficult equations, trying to figure out how to isolate the unknown. Enter Dr. Arthur Benjamin, professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College.

Created and performed by Benjamin and directed by Eric Krebs, That Math Show is presented by The Science Theater Company (That Physics Show and That Chemistry Show) in association with the National Museum of Mathematics. Those who have seen how the museum has turned its new space on Sixth Avenue into an interactive playground will understand the hidden but ever-present entertainment value of mathematics.

Dr. Arthur Benjamin

Still, math is serious business, too, and Dr. Benjamin not only performs amazing feats of computation but also shows the audience the reasoning behind them, making the process look easy.

Dr. Arthur Benjamin

While members of the audience take out their calculators, he squares numbers up to four digits in his head. He explains the Fibonacci sequence and how number patterns work. With the aid of an animated turtle named Pancho, he teaches the audience how to memorize the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, better known as pi. One of his most fascinating tricks is determining the day of the week something happened or will happen, simply by knowing the date and year.

Dr. Arthur Benjamin

Dr. Benjamin has an extremely engaging personality. His enthusiasm is contagious. He knows how to be silly. He performs card tricks. He sings Don McLean’s “American Pie,” with Lawrence M. Lesser’s lyrics about pi. This keeps the younger kids listening while the older kids are still calculating.

Dr. Arthur Benjamin

Before Dr. Benjamin walks onstage, the audience sees a short video in which people are asked to explain what math is. Many are quite stumped until they have time to think it over. But Dr. Benjamin has no such doubts. He knows: “Math is magical.”

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photos by Russ Rowland

That Math Show
The Science Theater Company
Theater555, 555 W. 42nd Street in New York City
Wed–Sat at 7; Sat & Sun at 2
75 minutes
ends Aug 16, 2026
for tickets ($30–$60), visit That Math Show

for more shows, visit Theater in New York

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