Silent Sky

The woman who discovered how to measure the universe

Shatterbox Theatre is staging the play Silent Sky at The Andrew in Picton, with performances starting tomorrow, June 28. The play, by Lauren Gunderson, looks at the life and work of Henrietta Swan Leavitt at the Harvard College Observatory in the first two decades of the twentieth century. This play is very much in line with Shatterbox’s practise of bringing lesser known and perhaps more challenging works to County players and audiences. “I started Shatterbox Theatre to explore different types of works that are not being produced as much. I think because of my background as an actor I wanted pieces that would challenge myself and my performers. Actors want to be able to do table-work and look at what the playwright’s intentions are and explore some thought-provoking works or stories that aren’t told as often. Being in a small community, it’s fun to bring those stories here,” said Shatterbox founder Georgia Papanicolaou. She founded the theatre company in 2018, after musing about it for two years, and staged a number of plays that were very well received. She has tried to match the performances to venues they are staged in: The Crucible was staged outdoors at Ameliasburgh Heritage Village, Spring Awakening was performed at Macaulay Park, and a room at The Cape was converted into a 1930s German nightclub for Cabaret. Ms. Papanicolaou said The Andrew, with its spacious interior, was a perfect location for a play that reveals the size of the universe.

Ms. Papanicolaou said she chose Silent Sky because the writing and the history appealed to her. “The story about female astronomers resonated with me, as a woman. Sometimes our histories are silenced or erased. These women were called human ‘computers’, and they collected data and then the men took their work and used it in ways that the women were not permitted to do. The play is beautifully written. Every character is so well balanced. It’s a funny, beautiful play about the women working at Harvard Observatory, about the relationships between these women, and about the relationship between men and women,” she said.

The play begins with Henrietta Swan Leavitt leaving her home to work at the Harvard College Observatory in 1903. She expects to be able to use the telescope to explore the universe, but is instead limited to analyzing images of the sky on glass photographic negatives. Yet despite the menial task, her meticulous work and sharp intellect

led to a profound discovery. “She was the first person who helped map out how far away stars are. She helped place us, on Earth, relative to the universe, which is pretty amazing,” said Robin Snip, who plays Ms. Leavitt. The play also features two other women “computers” who made significant contributions to the advance of astronomy: Annie Jump Cannon, played by Robin Everhardus, and Williamina Fleming, played by Julianna Tyers. The cast also includes Maggie Colby as Ms. Leavitt’s sister, Margaret, and Ian Shanahan as apprentice astronomer Peter Shaw. Ms. Snip said another interesting aspect of the play was the fact that both Ms. Leavitt and Ms. Cannon had lost most of their hearing. “That’s another layer of meaning to the term ‘silent sky’, but I also think it meant they could focus a lot better in a room full of women because they weren’t distracted.”

Ms. Snip did not plan on taking part in this play, as her life is very busy running a farm and taking care of her two children, as well as preparing for the weekend farmers’ market. “Then I read the play, and it was so beautiful, and it’s a story that needs to be told. And it’s a joy to be in Shatterbox Theatre,” she said.

Ms. Papanicolaou said Silent Sky is both hopeful and enlightening. “You’re going to learn something that you never knew before, and it’s part of history. We all look at the sky in wonder and in awe. To get a glimpse of what’s out there and how wide our universe is and the work that went into mapping that out, I think that’s pretty special.” Ms. Leavitt’s work played a pivotal role in determining the scale of the universe. Unfortunately, she did not live to see the fruits of her labour. She died in 1921at the age of 53, two years before Edwin Hubble used her discovery to measure the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy. Today, a century on, her work remains a cornerstone in astronomy.

Silent Sky opens on Thursday, May 28, with additional performances on May 29 and 30, as well as June 3 to June 6 at 7:30 p.m., with matinee performances on May 30 and June 6 at 2:30 p.m. The play is family-friendly, and is suitable for ages 10 and over. For tickets, please visit silentsky.ca.