SMA Rehearses ‘Silent Sky’ For One-Act Play Competition

San Marcos Academy’s Theatre Department has not participated in the TAPPS One-Act Play Competition in several years, and director Daryl Fleming decided it was time to change that.

Fleming, along with his five-member cast and five-member crew, have been rehearsing scenes from Silent Sky, written by Lauren Gunderson, since mid-September.

Hoping for a medal, they will perform at 12:45 PM Oct. 29 at the TAPPS Division II-4A One-Act Play Competition at McGregor High School, just outside Waco.

Two public performances of the play have also been scheduled at 7:30 PM Nov. 8 to 9 at the San Marcos Academy Robinson Christian Center. Admission is free.

Silent Sky is based on the true story of Henrietta Leavitt, credited as the first person to create a system to measure the universe. When Leavitt begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea.

Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculates projects in “girl hours” and has no time for the women’s probing theories.

As Leavitt, in her free time, attempts to measure the light 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.

Cast members include Cortlyn Haresnape as Henrietta Leavitt; Mac Daniel Howard as Peter Shaw; Illiamna Sommerlatte as Margaret Leavitt; Addy Cianciotto as Annie Cannon; and Lillian Facile as Williamina Flemings.

Carter Pruitt serves as stage manager, with Caleb Guenther on lights and sound. Other crew members are Maria DeCarlo, Anna Kerwin and Charlotte Ballou.