Lauren Gunderson's SILENT SKY Comes To Arizona Theatre Company Stages

Arizona Theatre Company (Sean Daniels, Artistic Director; Billy Russo, Managing Director) announces that Silent Sky, written by the nation's most-produced playwright two of the last three years, Lauren Gunderson,is coming to stages in Tucson and Phoenix.

Based on the true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and her astonishing discoveries, Silent Sky is a celebration of discovery, originality and curiosity that The Chicago Sun-Times described as a story which "unfolds with a beauty and complexity worthy of the skies she mapped."

Silent Sky will be at the Temple of Music & Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. in Tucson from Oct. 22 through Nov. 9 and at the Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe in Phoenix, from Nov. 14 through Dec. 1.

"From the moment I saw her perform her own material in high school, I have known that Lauren Gunderson would be a force in the American Theatre," said ATC Artistic Director Sean Daniels. "As someone who has been lucky enough to direct her work at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and Off-Broadway, I know that few writers are as in touch with their generation and the moment as she is. She writes with such warmth and joy, and so much smarts, about the women history don't credit. She makes sure that as a country, as a people and a theatre community, we acknowledge the shoulders we all stand on, especially when it's the shoulders of women who made some of breakthroughs that fuel modern science today.

"She also officiated at my wedding, so in addition to writing amazing plays, she can write a fantastic ceremony if you need it."

Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, writing about Gunderson in The New Yorker magazine, said that "although men still write three-quarters of the plays that get produced, Gunderson has built a national reputation with works that center on women's stories." He added that "a typical Gunderson protagonist resembles her author: smart, funny, collaborative, optimistic - a woman striving to expand the ranks of a male-dominated profession."

Silent Sky tells the story of ahead-of-her-time astronomer Leavitt (Veronika Duerr), who, in 1900, was hired at Harvard University as a "human computer" mapping stars as part of Dr. Edward Pickering's "harem," but without any scientific credit. And, without being able to use Harvard's Great Refractor telescope.

She was only able to log stars photographed by men in the department. And yet, undeterred, she began recording changes in the stars leading to scientific discovery that would have profound and lasting impact on the field of astronomy. Her obsessive work ethic put strains on relationships with her sister Margaret (Tori Grace Hines), her love interest Peter Shaw (Nardeep Khurmi) and her colleagues Annie Cannon (Inger Tudor) and Williamina Fleming (Amelia White).

In this exquisite blend of science, history, family ties and fragile love, as portrayed by ATC's very diverse cast, a passionate young woman must map her own passage through a society determined to keep a woman in her place.

Silent Sky will be directed by award-winning theater, opera and film director Casey Stangl, who directed ATC's production of Erma Bombeck: At Wit's End last season and previously directed Lombardi for ATC. The creative team also includes Scenic Designer Jo Winiarski, Costume Designer Kish Finnegan, Lighting Designer Jaymi Lee Smith, Sound Designer Paul James Prendergast and Projection Designer Jeffrey Teeter. Glenn Bruner is the stage manager.

Silent Sky will be followed by Cabaret, "Master Harold" ... and the Boys, The Legend of Georgia McBride and Women in Jeopardy!.

The 2019/2020 season is sponsored by I. Michael and Beth Kasser.

For more information, go to www.arizonatheatre.org or call the box office in Tucson at (520) 622-2823 or in Phoenix at (602) 256-6995.