Yearly Archives: 2019

SILENT SKY by Lauren Gunderson.
Directed by Burt McCollom.

Aug. 12 & 13 at 7-9pm
Fairfield Community Arts Center
411 Wessel Dr., Fairfield, OH 45014

Auditions for 4 Female / 1 Male
Consist of cold-readings from the script. Please be prepared to list all rehearsal conflicts. A small head-shot and theatre resume are nice, but not required.

CASTING FOR:

• Henrietta Leavitt (casting for age mid-30s): brilliant, meticulous, excited, wears a period hearing aid.
• Margaret Leavitt (casting for age mid-30s): Henrietta’s sister, handsome, creative, sweet, sister who plays the piano.
• Williamina Fleming (casting for age mid-50s): smart and fun, Scottish .
• Annie Cannon (casting for age mid-40s): the leader of the female group at Harvard, terse, sure, grows into a Suffragette firebrand.
• Peter Shaw (casting for age mid-30s): the head astronomer’s apprentice…and the man.

Rehearsals: Monday through Thursday, 6:30 PM to 9 PM, starting September 30. Cast read-thru on Monday, August 19.

Performance dates: Nov. 15-17

ABOUT THE SHOW:
With warm-hearted wit and infectious joy, Silent Sky tells the riveting true story of Henrietta Leavitt, a pioneering scientist in an age when women couldn’t even vote. Despite not being allowed to touch a telescope, Henrietta and her coworkers at the Harvard Observatory made ground-breaking discoveries about the universe that are still vital today, over a century later. If you liked the movie Hidden Figures, you won’t want to miss this “luminously beautiful play” that will change how you look at both the heavens and the earth.

When Henrietta Leavitt begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900’s, 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 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.

For more information, contact Burt McCollom at bmccollom@cinci.rr.com