A Woman’s Cosmos In A Man’sWorld By Tom Wachunas Without waxing tootechnical about the specifics of Henrietta Leavitt’s (1868-1921) contributionsto our knowledge of the cosmos, suffice it to say that in her tireless work asan astronomer at Harvard College Observatory in the early years of the 20thcentury, she essentially paved the way for deciphering how we determine the ageand size of the universe. Inspired by Leavitt’s life, playwright LaurenGunderson’s Silent Sky is a trulyremarkable accomplishment. Gunderson’s lovingly crafted masterpiece ofequipoise is an emotionally gripping look at an insatiable pursuit of arcanescience amidst equally compelling yearnings of the human heart. For a morecomprehensive look at the play and its history, here’s a very useful link: http://silentskyplay.tumblr.com/ On the cusp ofWomen’s History Month, this current production is directed by Brian Newberg,Associate Professor of Theatre & Theatre Director of the Kent State StarkTheatre Program. He has assembled a sharp and sensitive ensemble of five giftedindividuals who deliver a wondrously nuanced performance, replete with bothpathos and humor that’s, well… stellarin every sense of the word. Even the elegant simplicity of the scenic design byLouis Williams – with a stage set made up of a few pieces of furniture and araised, railed platform that doubles at one point as the deck of and oceanvessel – is often infused with projections of starry nights and Milky Waypanoramas. The timeline is1900-1920. Cashing in her dowry, Henrietta Leavitt (Morgan Brown) leaves herhome where she’s been living with her musician sister, Margaret (Emily Weiss),and father, a Congregational Church minister, to live her dream of doingserious research as an astronomer at Harvard College Observatory. There, she’squickly mortified and frustrated tolearn that she was hired only to count stars and measure their luminosity asrecorded on glass plate photographs made by the grand telescope which women arenot allowed to use. She and her co-workers, Annie Cannon (Breanna Morton) andWilliamina Fleming (Jacki Dietz), are regarded by their male bosses, includingtheir immediate supervisor, Peter Shaw (Jesse Fulks), simply as “humancomputers” – bean counters, as it were. Ever undaunted – even obsessive - inher insistence on finding the truth and meaning of her/our place in our galaxy(and beyond, as it turns out), Leavitt discovers not only significant physicalrealities, but much about herself as well. The education of head and heart. Just so, she sacrifices much,in the process eschewing society’s traditional expectations of romance anddomestic family life. Imagine the cast asa solar system, with Morgan Brown’s radiant portrayal of Leavitt as the center,holding the other characters – luminous entities in their own right – in orbit.Brown is not just believable, but also wholly magnetic as she articulatesLeavitt’s longing and struggle to affirm her identity in an unsympathetic,indeed oppressive patriarchal milieu. She forges an increasingly sturdy bondwith her office colleagues. Breanna Morton, as Annie, is at first a distant anddemanding taskmaster, but visibly softens as her understanding of, and supportfor, Leavitt grows. No doubt her softening is greatly aided by Jacki Dietz’scharismatic portrait of the feisty, no-nonsense Williamina. In her startlinglyauthentic Scottish accent, Dietz provides many of the evening’s wisestobservations and funniest passages. Meanwhile, JesseFulks, often a target of the ladies’ ridicule, brings an exquisitely craftedawkwardness and shyness to his reading of Peter Shaw, apprentice to theobservatory’s head scientist, Dr. Pickering. His respect for, then infatuationwith Leavitt, blossoms into a matter ofthe heart, the hope of a nervous suitor, as he at one point asks her, justbefore embarking on a research trip to Europe, if they could “…continue theexperiment of our mutual compatibility” when he returns. So OK, he’s a scientist, not a poet. Still,this play has as much if not more poetry than astrophysics. Through it all,Emily Weiss convincingly presents Leavitt’s sister, Margaret, as a faithfulhomemaker while caring for their ailing father. Gentle and patient if notoccasionally resentful, she’s the picture of sincerity as she desperately triesto grasp the depths of her sister’s impassioned search for answers to cosmicquestions. In fact it’sMargaret’s playing a lilting melody on her piano that spurs Henrietta toultimately see the music of the spheres, as it were… to discern an order andpattern to those puzzling pulses of light visible from across impossibledistances. The play concludes on a bittersweet albeit tender note. It’s analtogether inspiring remembrance of Leavitt’s legacy. More importantly, inthese volatile times, the play is a timely beacon and an urgent reminder. Genderbias should never be permitted to squelch our pursuit of knowledge, theaffirmation of our purpose, or the realization of our destinies. Silent Sky, at Kent State University AtStark Theatre / Located in the Fine Arts building on Kent Stark campus, 6000Frank Ave. NW in North Canton / PerformancesFeb. 25, March 3 & 4 at 7:30 p.m. / Feb. 26 & March 5 at 2 p.m. /Tickets: $10 for adults and $7 for non-Kent State students and senior citizens.All Kent State students admitted free of charge with current student ID. Formore information about the show and ensemble members, or to reserve ticketsonline, go to www.kent.edu/stark/theatre or call the Kent State Stark Theatre BoxOffice at 330-244-3348, Mondays through Fridays from 1 to 5 p.m. For othercommentaries by Tom Wachunas on the performing and visual arts in the greaterCanton area, please visit his blog, ARTWACH, at www.artwach.blogspot.com