The amazing true story of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt will come to life in the Performing Arts Department’s production of Silent Sky. The play, which tells the story of Leavitt’s groundbreaking discoveries at the turn of the last century, was written by Lauren Gunderson. Leavitt navigated the challenges of being a woman in the male-dominated science community while developing ways to accurately calculate distances in space—her discoveries ultimately shaped a better understanding of the scale and expansion of the universe.
Last week, the play’s cast and Performing Arts chair Eleza Kort went to Harvard with Science Department faculty member Jim Kernohan’s Cosmology class. There, the students visited “The Great Refractor” telescope and saw the photographic plates that Leavitt used to map the stars.
The show opens in Milton’s Studio Theatre on Wednesday, April 30 with a 2 p.m. matinee, followed by performances Thursday, May 1 and Friday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Check out a promotional video from the cast and crew!
