Thought-Provoking ‘Silent Sky’ Now on Stage at Peninsula Players

(From left) Ashley Lanyon and Cassandra Bissell (as Henrietta Swan Leavitt) in rehearsal. Photo by Brian Kelsey.

Peninsula Players Theatre’s Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson will be performed Aug. 21 – Sept. 1 at the troupe’s Fish Creek theater in a garden. 

Silent Sky is the story of unsung astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who leaves her home in Wisconsin for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When she arrives at the Harvard observatory, however, she learns that she isn’t allowed to touch the telescope. Instead, she and her female co-workers work as “human computers” to chart the stars for the renowned astronomer Dr. Pickering using math and measurement.

Staying long hours after each workday to pursue her own scientific theories, Leavitt discovers a technique to measure the distance to stars by their pulsating light. Astounding truths cascade from this single shocking discovery, upending her colleagues’ views of themselves, each other and the universe.

Silent Sky is performed Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 pm; and Sundays, 7:30 pm, except for Sunday, Sept. 1, at 4 pm. To learn more and buy tickets, call 920.868.3287 or visit peninsulaplayers.com.