THE WOMEN WHO MAPPED THE STARS Comes to Central Square Theater

The Nora Theatre Company is proud to present the World Premiere of Joyce Van Dyke's The Women Who Mapped the Stars from April 19 to May 20, 2018. The production is directed by Jessica Ernst. The press performance is Tuesday, April 24 at 7:30PM. The Women Who Mapped the Stars is the inaugural production in The Brit d'Arbeloff Women in Science Production Series. A Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production.

Late 1800s, Harvard College Observatory. "Computers" - women employed for half a man's salary to analyze astronomic data - show us that the universe is larger than we ever dreamed. The thrilling story of five women who changed the way astronomers saw the universe - from scientist to scientist and generation to generation. The Women Who Mapped the Stars, a world premiere by Joyce Van Dyke, is the untold story of brave women in science who paved the way for previously impossible advances in astronomy.

The Women Who Mapped the Stars plays at Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge from April 19 to May 20, 2018. Tickets may be purchased by calling 617.576.9278 x1, at the Central Square Theater box office, or online at CentralSquareTheater.org

Joyce Van Dyke (Playwright) The Women Who Mapped the Stars, commissioned by Central Square Theater with early script development assistance from The Poets' Theatre and Jessica Ernst, is the inaugural play in the Brit D'Arbeloff Women in Science Production Series. Running simultaneously with this premiere is the off-Broadway premiere of Daybreak, about two women survivors of the Armenian genocide. Daybreak is produced by Pan Asian Repertory Theatre with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts (April 21-May 13). It was previously produced in 2015 at Tufts; an earlier version had a workshop production in 2012 by Boston Playwrights' Theatre under the title Deported / a dream play. Joyce's other plays include The Oil Thief, commissioned by the Ensemble Studio Theatre / Sloan Project, produced by Boston Playwrights' Theatre and winner of the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New Script (2009). A Girl's War, produced by Golden Thread Productions (2009), New Repertory Theatre (2003), and Boston Playwrights' Theatre (2001), won the Gassner Award and the Boston Globe's "Top Ten" plays of 2001. Joyce has been awarded residencies from the MacDowell Colony, the Huntington Theatre Playwriting Fellows program, and Central Square Theater's PlayPen. She teaches playwriting and Shakespeare at Northeastern and Harvard. JoyceVanDyke.com

Jessica Ernst (Director) has been collaborating with Joyce Van Dyke to develop The Women Who Mapped The Stars through four workshops over two years, and is looking forward to bringing the world premiere to the Central Square Theater stage. Her directing credits include Daughter of Venus (Artists' Theatre of Boston), The Love of the Nightingale (Open Theatre Project), The Weaver of Raveloe (Oberon, world premiere), and Hedda Gabler (The Longwood Players), as well as various short plays and staged readings. In the past, she has worked as an assistant director and artistic intern with several Boston area companies, including the Huntington Theatre Company, New Repertory Theatre, and Actors' Shakespeare Project. With The Poets' Theatre, she produced, curated, and directed The Ghostlight Series from 2015-2016 - a monthly performance series exploring poetry in performance, new plays, and more. Jessica is a graduate of Gettysburg College, where her work included classics, contemporary work, and new plays and adaptations. This summer, she will be directing Henry IV with Praxis Stage, performing in multiple parks in Cambridge and Brookline.

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