Review: Three Sisters Theatre Company's SILENT SKY at The Gladstone Theatre

Three Sisters Theatre Company’s production of Lauren Gunderson’s Silent Sky is an unexpected delight, with its historical basis, compelling story, intimate staging, and authentic performances. Billed as the “almost true story of the women who changed our view of the cosmos”, Silent Sky focuses on the life work of Henrietta Leavitt (Melissa Raftis), a Wisconsin farmer’s daughter who, bucking female societal norms at the turn of the nineteenth century, moves to Massachusetts in pursuit of her dream of astronomy, taking a job with a female team of “human computers” at the Harvard Observatory. Her findings, notably the variable luminosity of Cepheid stars, led to the ability to measure the distance to the stars and paved the way for other, more infamous astronomers, including Edwin Hubble. Working alongside Leavitt were Annie Canon (Robin Guy) and Williamina Fleming (Cindy Beaton), who also contributed to astronomy with their own significant discoveries and classifications.

Central to the plot is Henrietta’s relationship with her sister, Margaret (Kaylee Ross). Although Margaret did not exist in real life, the character is used to underline the contrast between Henrietta’s choice of career to the more traditional choice of marriage and family adopted by Maragret and suggests a relationship between sciences and the arts. As a composer, Margaret’s music inspires Henrietta to see the pulsing of the Cepheid stars as music and allows her to determine the patten of movement and related it to distance.

Peter Shaw (Ray Burrage-Goodwin) is a fictional character who is used as a love interest for Henrietta. More importantly, however, Shaw personifies a shift in the male mindset, going from a traditional male chauvinist outlook, to becoming more open minded, as his feelings and respect for Henrietta deepen over the course of the play. At the same time, Cannon becomes active in the suffragette movement, hinting at more equal opportunities for women to come.

The stage (designed by David Magladry) divides the area into two levels, creating a sense of intimacy, as the actors are generally in only one area at any given time. The pulsing of the Cepheid stars is reflected in lights projected onto the background (lighting design by Magladry, star photo background by Rachel Worton) is effective, but the true stars of the show (forgive the pun) are the actors themselves.

Raftis throws herself into her performance of Leavitt, simultaneously conveying her character’s intelligence and sensitivity. Guy’s Cannon is complex, her initial brusqueness giving way to more boisterous energy as her involvement in the suffragette movement increases. Burrage-Goodwin’s character development changes how the audience perceives him as they play wears on. Beaton portrays Fleming as a motherly figure, who encourages and nurtures Henrietta. Margaret’s role includes vocal performances, to which Ross is well suited as a multidisciplinary artist. 

Even though the play moves a touch too slowly in the first half and then ends relatively abruptly, its excellent direction (Rebecca Russell) and cast performances keep the audience interested in the story, invested in the outcome and encouraged to learn more about the historical figures who inspired the show (I saw more than one person reading Henrietta Leavitt’s Wiki page at intermission).

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