SCR Adds Lauren Gunderson’s Silent Sky to Season

Silent Sky, Lauren Gunderson's new play about a real-life female astronomer whose research in the early 1900s altered everything we knew about the universe, will fill the final slot in South Coast Repertory's 2010-11 season.

The world premiere, which runs April 1 through May 1 on the Segerstrom Stage, is an SCR commission.

Silent Sky mingles science and history with a dose of feminism and romantic love. It's the story of Henrietta Leavitt, a Massachusetts pastor's daughter who leaves her home and beloved sister for a job at Harvard University's Observatory. There she maps the night sky by studying photographic plates and meets Peter Shaw, the head astronomer's apprentice, who makes her re-think her vow never to marry.

Despite her lowly position and limited access to scientific equipment, Henrietta makes an amazing discovery. But will she get the credit? Will her health give out before she gets the answers she's seeking? Will her family obligations keep her from the man she loves?

This is Gunderson's second produced commission at SCR: Her first, Emilie: Le Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life at the Petite Théâtre at Cirey Tonight, also examined a real-life female scientist who never received proper credit for her ideas. In fact, Gunderson has developed a reputation as a writer of science-themed plays. She was the first-ever Playwright in Residence at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. Gunderson holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Some of her other works include Fire Work, Baby M, Leap, Parts They Call Deep and Exit, Pursued By a Bear, which will have a rolling three-city tour beginning in Atlanta in March. She is the recipient of the Berrilla Kerr Award for American Theatre, Young Playwright's Award, Eric Bentley New Play Award and Essential Theatre Prize.

"We're delighted to be working with Lauren again," said Producing Artistic Director David Emmes. "She has a real gift for creating vivid, theatrical worlds from historical incidents.

"Lauren finds these women who played important roles in science and reveals not just the work they did but who they were as people. She's brought them back to life as fully-formed characters whom we care about and want to follow on their journeys."

TICKETS for Silent Skyare $20 to $65 and can be purchased online at www.scr.org, by phone at (714) 708-5555 or in person at the SCR box office.

LOCATION: South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Folino Theatre Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Parking is available off Anton Blvd. on Park Center Drive.

COMING UP: Circle Mirror Transformation (Jan. 9 - 30), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Jan. 21 - Feb. 20), Lucky Duck (Feb. 11 - 27).

ABOUT SCR: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory, under the artistic direction of David Emmes and Martin Benson, is widely recognized as one of the leading professional theaters in the United States. Founded in 1964, SCR is committed to theater that illuminates the compelling personal and social issues of our time, not only on its stages but through its education and outreach programs. While its productions represent a balance of classic and modern theater, SCR is renowned for its extensive new play development program, including the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Of SCR's more than 449 productions, 117 have been world premieres, with subsequent stagings achieving enormous success across America and around the world. SCR-developed works have garnered eight Pulitzer Prize nominations with Margaret Edson's Wit winning the prize in 1999 and David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole in 2007. Located in Costa Mesa, California, in 2002 SCR opened the Folino Theater Center, an expanded three-theater complex that includes the 507-seat Segerstrom Stage, the 336-seat Julianne Argyros Stage and the 94-seat Nicholas Studio.