Galileo, Einstein, Hawking, Sagan, Hubble — the planet’s greatest astronomers are household names. Edit: The planet’s greatest male astronomers are household names. Henrietta Swan Leavitt — whose groundbreaking discoveries changed our very understanding of the observable universe — didn’t make the cut.
With Lauren Gunderson’s “Silent Sky,” Oak Brook’s First Folio Theatre provides a closeup of a star-struck woman whose discoveries near the turn of the last century have long been eclipsed. “The debate at the time was whether there was anything beyond the Milky Way,” says director Melanie Keller. “Henrietta gave us the measuring stick we needed to figure out what was beyond it.”
Working at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, Leavitt’s gender meant that she was prohibited from using a telescope. Nevertheless, she persisted. Today, Edwin Hubble’s namesake telescope sends photos of Deep Space back to Earth. Leavitt worked out the math that let the early 20th century scientist know there was something out there to be photographed in the first place.
Math on stage might sound not sound terribly dramatic. But the play’s exploration of Leavitt’s work is far more than a parade of bloodless integers, Keller says. “Gunderson turns complex mathematical concepts into poetry. She takes these incredibly intricate calculations and translates them, shows how they are important to us,” Keller says.
The intersection between the humanities and science has long fascinated leading lady Cassandra Bissell, a University of Chicago grad who majored in gender studies.
“At one point in the play, Henrietta’s sister asks her why she doesn’t just stay home like other woman,” Bissell says, “I love Henrietta’s explanation. She says she has fundamental problems with the state of human knowledge, with our understanding of the who and the why and the what of our existence — she inherently believed there was more out there than was known at the time.”
Leavitt’s inherent belief was correct, of course. While her male colleagues were arguing over what — if anything — lay beyond the Milky Way, Leavitt was calculating the theorems that would answer the question once and for all.
Her story bears a resemblance to the Oscar-nominated film “Hidden Figures,” which delved the largely unsung but critically important work of African-American women hired as “human computers” for NASA.
“These stories need to be told. History doesn’t always acknowledge women, especially women in the sciences,” Bissell says. “‘Silent Sky’ is also important because, frankly, science is under attack right now. Science and knowledge are unified, and tied to collaboration. If you don’t allow qualified voices into the conversation, knowledge can get lost. Science is a great unifier, or it can be. But to move forward, we have to allow voices like Henrietta’s to be heard.”
First Folio Theatre presents, ‘Silent Sky’
When: March 29–April 30
Where: First Folio Theatre at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 1717 W. 31st St, Oak Brook
Tickets: $23 (previews), $29-$39 (regular run); discounts for students and seniors
Contact: 630-986-8067, www.firstfolio.org
