Waukesha Civic Theatre’s Silent Sky offers a veritable constellation of delights 

Silent Sky – Waukesha Civic Theatre

Lauren Gunderson’s play Silent Sky is a dazzlingly lyrical dramatization of the life of early 20th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, chronicling her career-defining, gender-defying astronomical breakthroughs studying cephid pulses that created the standard by which distances are measured in space. Indeed, the play is necessarily obsessed by space, Gunderson’s script not only seizes on the scientific implications of exploring space and time, but uses the narrative fiber of her text to play with how space and time is perceived. Indeed, the play spans decades, charting Leavitt’s persistence in the face of institutional misogyny, familial setbacks, and even heartache. 

And, like the irregular pulses of light from Leavitt’s beloved cephids, there are occasionally leaps in narrative time, moments when characters from other times and places speak to one another, in dialogue, in crosstalk, and their conversations bend across space and time. Director Dustin J. Martin’s purposefully spare set, well-intentioned blocking and effective lighting coalesce to highlight these bends and leaps. It is in these leaps and narrative bounds and discursions that the play gains much its energy and momentum.

Adding to the production’s luminous charm are dazzling performances from a small but formidable cast, including Victoria Hudziak charismatic lead performance that makes success of Leavitt’s struggles. Bolstering Hudziak’s Leavitt are fabulous performances from Kelly Simon as Annie Jump Cannon and Stephanie Demyun Smith as Williamina Fleming, the other brilliant and formidable women “computers” working alongside Leavitt. Simon’s Annie Cannon is stern and straight-laced with just the right amount of give, while Demyun Smith’s turn as Williamina Fleming, Pickering’s former maid and first “computer,” provides a good measure of liveliness and levity to keep the pacing quick and the lines sparkling. As Leavitt’s dutiful sister Margie, Sydney Faris transforms what could have been a thankless, nagging role of the metaphorical pull of home and the past, and instead imbues the role with sympathy and an empathy for her brilliant sister’s missteps into occasional myopathy.

The standout performance of the show, however, is Nicholas Callan Haubner’s portrayal of Peter Shaw, a junior astronomer under Pickering and Leavitt’s supervisor cum love interest. Imbuing his performance with a canny mix of nebbish uncertainty and breathless awe, Haubner’s Shaw is nuanced, allowing Shaw to be more than simply a patriarchal foil or swooning suitor. 

There is so much to admire about Martin’s stellar production. From the set’s creative use of lighting and projection to the cast’s collectively luminous performances, Silent Sky offers a veritable constellation of delights to behold. Do yourself a favor and chart a course to the Waukesha Civic Theatre to go and behold them!

Highly Recommended

Info:

Waukesha Civic Theatre performs “Silent Sky” through February 27 at Waukesha Civic Theatre, 264 W Main St, Waukesha, WI.

For tickets and info, contact the box office at (262) 547-0708

*COVID-19 Note: Masks required