If Silent Sky is an example of what has led Lauren Gunderson to be (as the program for the production states) the “most produced living playwright in America,” it is easy to understand why she would be such. Human beings are hard-wired to consume sweet things. And Silent Sky is a masterwork of a confection. There is a good deal more than a spoonful of sugar in this show. And although you know you shouldn’t, like all proper, well-made confections its deliciousness makes you to want more!
It was the ballroom dance in the moonlight on the landing between the dual descending staircases that done me in and convinced me that in Silent Sky, director Seema Sueko has produced a musical, full of song cues, but without songs. (Well, there is one, demure, Protestant hymn – “For the Beauty of the Earth” – which kind of proves the point.)
This history-fiction play tells the story of Henrietta Leavitt, and how her commitment to the work of and passionate curiosity for astronomy led to her discovery of the “period-luminosity relationship.” This essential tool allowed her colleague astronomers to measure the universe and to come to understand how vast is the space in which we are all living.
Silent Sky closes February 23, 2020. DCTS details and tickets
When we first meet Henrietta Leavitt, she is already a summa cum laude graduate of Radcliffe and has been offered a position of “Computer” at Harvard College Observatory, under the leadership of Dr. Edward Pickering. She leaves her minister father and church musician sister to pursue her passion in astronomy. When she arrives to take the position she discovers that the women holding these positions were widely known as “Pickering’s Harem,” a title she finds offensive. She then finds that women are not allowed to use the telescopes as they are “considered too frail to operate [this equipment] at night in cold temperatures.”
Nevertheless, and without access to telescopes, through sheer sacrifice, tenacity and pluck, Henrietta makes discoveries that advance the field of astronomy and lead to her being nominated, posthumously, for the Nobel Price in Physics. Along the way she finds and loses love and, simply by continuing to demonstrate excellence and integrity in her chosen calling, provides compelling argument for why women should be given the right to vote!
The play focuses on two primary sources of tension in Leavitt’s life: 1) the conflict between conventional expectations of a “woman’s role” in the world’s societies versus Leavitt’s passion to be fully a actualized person; and, 2) the competing demands of a calling/vocation/career versus a familial obligations. It would be overstating the case to say that the play explores these tensions. Or even that it advocates for feminism or women’s suffrage. It’s much more accurate to say the play illustrates these tensions the way My Fair Lady illustrates diction and elocution, and with similar results (though using only one song). In Silent Sky, science and politics are like Alfred Hitchcock’s “macguffin,” something that is necessary to move the plot along in an entertaining way but about which nobody really much cares.
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The play is most successful at extolling the value of having passion and following it, regardless of your gender. It is quite wonderful entertainment for people middle school age and older. Anyone coming to Washington, DC to experience the historical city and see a presentation in an historical building will enjoy this because it is technically and artistically very well done. The show is full of design and rhythmic delight (thanks to Andre J. Pluess for Sound Design and Original Music, Karma Camp for Choreograpy and Lisa Nathans for Dialect and Voice work). Thanks to its production design (Rui Rita – lights, Ivania Stack – Costumes, Anne Nesmith – Makeup and Hair, Milagros Ponce de Leon – Scenic Design) Silent Sky is a delectable experience for the eyes.
The performances of this cast (Nora Achrati, Lauara C. Harris, Emily Kester, Jonathan David Martin and Holly Twyford) are universally stellar, both individually and as a team that keep this juggernaut moving. These performances are worth studying. In lesser hands, these roles could easily be stereotypes. In the hands of these craftspersons the characters become living, moment-to-moment spontaneous beings enlivening a highly structured production.
We are living in an era in which the President, someone who proudly talks of grabbing women by their genitalia, has a good chance of being re-elected. During the 2 plus hours it takes to experience Silent Sky, a play about one woman’s achievement, you will think about none of this, no matter where you stand in the political spectrum. Silent Sky is unabashedly comforting. The performances are often amazing. If you’re going to prepare and consume comfort food (and who isn’t?), this is how to do it.
Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson. Directed by Seema Sueko. Cast Nora Achrati, Laura C. Harris, Emily Kester, Jonathan David Martin, Holly Twyford. Scenic Design, Milagros Ponce de Leon. Costume Design, Ivania Stack. Lighting Design, Rui Rita. Sound Design and Original Music Andre J. Pluess. Choreography Karma Camp. Hair and Make-Up Design Anne Nesmith. Dialects and Vocal Direction Lisa Nathans. Production Assistants Taylor Kiechlin, Alison Poms. DirectingAssistant Katie Ciszek. Assistant to Stage Management Lydia Bennski. Prop Designer/Coordinator Mari Schneggenburger. Assistant to Scenic Designer Bekah Unsworth. Assistant to Costume Designer B. Benjamin Weisel. Associate Lighting Designer William D’Eugenio. Props Assistant Felysia Funary. Production Stage Manager Brandon Prendergast. Assistand Stage Manager Julia Singer. Deputy Director and Director of Programming Kristin Fox-Siegmund. Produced by FOrd’s Theatre . Review by Gregory Ford.
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