Open Auditions for “Silent Sky”

About the event

Calling all confirmed and aspiring thespians! WSU Performing Arts will be holding auditions Nov. 29 & 30 for its spring production of Silent Sky, by Lauren Gunderson (6 performances March 30-31, April 6-7).

All auditions will be held in Wadleigh Theatre (Daggy Hall 250) on the WSU campus. Permit-free parking is available after 5:00 p.m. in the surrounding Green 3 lots (check signs at lot entrances for specifics).

OPEN AUDITIONS
Wednesday, November 29, 2017 | 6:00–9:00 p.m
Thursday, November 30, 2017 | 6:00–9:00 p.m.
There will be no preparation necessary. Please wear clothes and shoes you can move around in. You only need to attend one of these auditions, but please plan to arrive on time and stay for the duration.

CALLBACKS
Friday, December 1, 2017 | 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Callbacks and all necessary audition materials will be posted online (the callback URL will be distributed at audition sessions) and on the bulletin board at Daggy Hall 225.

Contact Mary Trotter at 509-335-7447 or mary.trotter@wsu.edu with any questions.

ABOUT SILENT SKY

Based on the true story of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, “Silent Sky” 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. When Henrietta 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 Henrietta, 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. 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.

• “Luminously beautiful … an intellectual epic told on an intimate scale.” —Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• “What a pleasant, thought-provoking evening at the theater ought to look like. It’s a lively, funny, accessible play that’s alive with interesting ideas.” —Arts Atlanta
• “Gunderson’s writing strikes a balance between the cerebral and poetic that’s ideal for this subject matter. … Exceptionally effective stage writing.” —Houston Chronicle
• “Gunderson is an extraordinarily poetic writer. Funny as Silent Sky can be, it also includes passages so gorgeous they’ll take your breath away—and moments so moving that you’re apt to choke up.” —Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel