Lauren Gunderson's "SILENT SKY" at New Mexico State University Theatre Dept

"Silent Sky" by Lauren Gunderson OPENS Feb 22nd, 2019
LAUREN GUNDERSON’S SILENT SKY SHINES A LIGHT ON GROUNDBREAKING FEMALE ASTRONOMERS
NMSU Center for the Arts
FIND YOUR LIGHT
The incredible true story of a boundary-shattering New England astronomer

When Henrietta Leavitt begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculates projects in “girl hours” and has no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she must also take a measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love. The true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them. Social progress, like scientific progress, can be hard to see when one is trapped among earthly complications; Henrietta Leavitt and her female peers believe in both, and their dedication changed the way we understand both the heavens and Earth.

At the center of Silent Sky is Henrietta Leavitt, a passionate and inquisitive “computer” at the turn of the 20th Century. She trades the comforts of home for a job at the Harvard Observatory, grinding through routine calculations for astronomy studies that fascinate her—though as a woman, she is not allowed to so much as touch a telescope. Staying long after hours to pursue her own science work she discovers a technique that makes it possible to measure the distance to stars by their pulsating light. Astounding truths cascade from this single shocking discovery, upending her colleagues’ views of themselves, each other, and the universe itself for all time.

The five-person cast of all NMSU theatre students features Jaiden Jaramillo as Henrietta Leavitt, Jenna Ivey as Margaret Leavitt, Isaac Lucero as Peter Shaw, E. Gallegos as Willamina Fleming and Molly Schafer as Annie Cannon. Set and Lighting designs are by Jim Billings, costumes by NMSU senior Junice Robinson and sound by student Daniel Miller.

Tickets are available at the NMSU PamAm Ticket Center or at the ASNMSU Center for the Arts one hour before each show.
Ages: 12 years & up