Silent Sky

Silent Sky, by Lauren Gunderson
St. Michael’s College
Directed by John Paul Devlin
Sound Design: Abra Clawson
Lighting Design: John Paul Devlin
Set Design: John Paul Devlin
Costume Design: Peter Harrigan
Pictured: Aimee Turcotte (Annie), Mckenzie Rowbotham (Henrietta), and Ava Magoon (Williamina)
Photo by Andy Duback

Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt leaves her family in Wisconsin to begin work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, where she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. She is placed in a department of female “computers,” who chart stars and “clean up the universe for the men.” In her free time, Henrietta begins to measure the light and distance of stars, all while balancing her dedication to science with family obligations and a possibility of love. This true story explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries. Like scientific progress, social progress can be hard to see when one is trapped among earthly complications. Henrietta and her colleagues believe in – and strive for – both, and as a result they change our understanding of both the heavens and Earth.

This production was performed for both a small in-person audience as well as a YouTube Live-Streamed audience. In addition to using the College’s house system, two additional speakers were placed on the stage in order to localize sound at the piano and the platform that served as an ocean liner. As a whole, the design elements of the play were minimal in order to make it more visually and sonically digestible through a screen.

Important moments were accented with sound, such as when the women are charting the universe, when Henrietta dreams of being with Peter, and at the end of the play when we move forward in time and understand the impact these women had. In addition, Margaret’s piano-playing was pre-recorded.