The Sunflower Troupe is preparing to present “Silent Sky” at the Sunflower Theatre starting at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7.
The play, written by Lauren Gunderson, highlights the “remarkable” story of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and will run for two weekends. Additional performances are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8; Friday, Nov. 14; and Saturday, Nov. 15, all at 7 p.m.
Matinee showings will take place on Sunday, Nov. 9, and Sunday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m.
It highlights Leavitt’s contributions to astronomy and the sacrifices she made in pursuit of her discoveries. The play follows Leavitt and her female colleagues as they work to earn scientific recognition at the male-dominated Harvard University.
“A decade before women gained the right to vote, Henrietta made world-altering calculations and discoveries at Harvard University’s Observatory,” the troupe said in an email to The Journal. “She and her female colleagues, called ‘computers,’ were in the minority among male astronomers, but they persevered to be recognized for their scientific achievements.”
Co-director Kim Welty shared that the play inspires attendees to move “one’s focus away from today’s struggles and to the skies.”
“Annie Jump Cannon, one of Harvard’s ‘computers,’ says something that I think speaks to the power of this play,” Welty said. “It is, ‘In our troubled days it is good to have something outside our planet, something fine and distant for comfort.’ This play certainly provides us with something fine and distant with which to comfort ourselves.”
The show is directed by Hattie Miller and Welty, and features Desiree Henderson, Mimi Genheimer, Claudia Martin, Silvia Fleitz and Abraham Profitt. Other troupe members include costume designer Marie Chiarizia and set designer and builder Gene Reninger. Miller and Brynn Weber managed the technical side of the play.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.sunflowertheatre.org/events/silent-sky-by-lauren-gunderson/.
