Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson

Full of wonder, humor, and heart, Lauren Gunderson's Silent Sky  is the remarkable true story of Henrietta Leavitt, one of the pioneering women astronomers working at Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s. When Leavitt begins working at the observatory, she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope, much less engage in academic discourse. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers” charting the stars for a renowned male astronomer. During a time when men both dismissed and claimed credit for women’s ideas, Henrietta took on the astronomy establishment. She transcended the odds while navigating love, family, and the universe, going on to make a world-altering advancement to the field of astronomy that forever changed our view of the cosmos.



Directed by Ashley Skeffington. 

Performances

October 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 7:30 pm 

October 20 and 27 at 2 pm 



Friday, October 25 is SALEM NIGHT. Free admission for Salem residents. ***Due to limited seating in our studio theatre please email arts@salemstate.edu to reserve your seat in advance. ID with proof of residence required at the box office when picking up tickets. 

TICKETS

$15 general/$10 seniors/free for all students with student ID and under 18.

Admission is free for Salem State students, faculty and staff with a university ID.



This production is co-sponsored by Salem State chemistry and physics and the Collins Observatory.

Silent Sky is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection.

About the Playwright 

Lauren Gunderson is a playwright, screenwriter and short story author from Atlanta, GA. She received her BA in English/Creative Writing at Emory University, and her MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch, where she was also a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship.



She has been one of the most produced playwrights in America (American Theatre Magazine) since 2015, topping the list thrice including 22/23. Gunderson is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the winner of the William Inge Distinguished Achievement in Theatre Award, the Lanford Wilson Award and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award; a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Weisberger Award, and John Gassner Award for Playwriting; and a recipient of the Mellon Foundation’s Residency with Marin Theatre Company.