NICOLE KIDMAN, whose last appearance on stage in London was described by one reviewer as “pure theatrical Viagra,” has captivated audiences again with her performance as the sidelined scientist who helped unlock the secret of DNA.

    The Oscar-winning actress’ portrait of Rosalind Franklin, who battles sexism in male-dominated 1950s Britain in Anna Ziegler’s play “Photograph 51,” opened to glowing reviews Monday.

    Kidman’s return to the London stage had been eagerly awaited following her debutin London 17 years ago in David Hare’s “The Blue Room,” a play about a chain of sexual encounters.

    This time she is a very different character: the super-smart but prickly Franklin, a chemist whose work in X-ray crystallography was crucial to understanding the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

    Her role in the landmark discovery of its double-helix structure never received the same recognition as Francis Crick, James Watson and Maurice Wilkins.

    Franklin, whose X-ray image known as photograph 51 was pivotal to the breakthrough, died of ovarian cancer in 1958 at the age of 37. Ziegler’s play helps move her from the margins of science history to center stage.

    Kidman, 48, said she was apprehensive about returning to the stage, but the play resonated for her personally. Her father, Antony Kidman, was a biochemist who died almost exactly a year ago.(SD-Agencies)