Silent Sky

by Lauren Gunderson

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6-22 September 2018

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Director: Ellis Ebell

Production Coordinator: Brian Christopher

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Almost a century before the Academy Award nominated film Hidden Figures, astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt and her female colleagues at Harvard University acted as ‘human computers’, using maths and measurement to chart the skies without ever being allowed to touch a telescope - a task prohibited to women at the turn of the 20th century!

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A true story of discovery, this riveting play explores the life and career of Henrietta as she fearlessly asserts herself in the male-dominated world of early astronomy.  Her story plays out against a landscape of early feminism and universe-revealing science, reminding us of what can be achieved when we allow curiosity and wonder into our lives.

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WLT's entry into the 2018 VDL Awards

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Cast:

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Henrietta Swan Leavitt         Ruby Duncan

Margaret Leavitt                  Lee McClenaghan

Peter Shaw                          Richard Mealey

Annie Jump Cannon           Melanie Rowe

Williamina Fleming              Paula McDonald

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Stage Manager                         Emma Hunt

Assistant Stage Manager          Nicola Taylor

Operators                                  Rob Edwards

                                                  Andrew Wild

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Set design                                David Dare

Lighting design                        Jason Bovaird

Audio design                            Patrick Slee

Costume design                      Tony Tartaro

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