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 AT NMSU Center for the Arts
FIND YOUR LIGHT 
The incredible true story of a boundary-shattering New England astronomer

DIRECTED BY CLAUDIA BILLINGS

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

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.

Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt trades the comforts of her rural home for a job at the Harvard Observatory in Massachusetts. Her ambition leaves both her family and her new colleagues (women known simply as “computers”) perplexed. But with a single discovery, their views of themselves, each other, and the universe itself will be upended for all time. An incredible story of bold love, boundless determination, and the vast grandeur of the cosmos—an unparalleled treat for the heart, mind, and senses.

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.