Play Reading Tues May 8 – Silent Sky


Join us for an open reading of Los Alamos Little Theatre’s September production, SILENT SKY, by Lauren Gunderson. The reading begins at 7 PM Tuesday, May 8, in the Green Room of the Performing Arts Center, 1670 Nectar Street.

The reading is open to anyone interested in taking part in reading from the script or simply listening and enjoying this widely acclaimed play.

The play focuses on Henrietta Leavitt, who, when she began work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, wasn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joined a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculated projects in “girl hours” and had no time for the women’s probing theories.  

As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the brightness and distance of stars, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love. The true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries, when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them. Social progress, like scientific progress, can be hard to see when one is trapped among earthly complications; Henrietta Leavitt and her female peers believe in both, and their dedication changed the way we understand both the heavens and Earth.

The cast consists of 4 women and 1 man:

HENRIETTA LEAVITT: 30s, brilliant, meticulous, excited – almost always wearing a period hearing aid

MARGARET LEAVITT: 30s, homebody, creative, sweet, sister

PETER SHAW: 30s, the head astronomer’s apprentice . . . and the man

ANNIE CANNON: 40s, the leader, terse and sure, grows into a firebrand

WILLIAMINA FLEMING: 50s, smart as a whip and fun, Scottish T

he production is directed by John Cullinan, and produced by John Gustafson. Auditions will be held in late June.