Silent Sky
by Lauren Gunderson
January 22-February 1, 2026
This 2015 drama – poetically and imaginatively written – is the true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. It explores a woman’s place in society as several different women negotiate a time of immense scientific and personal discoveries. With music and math bursting forth onstage, Henrietta and her female peers change the way we understand both the heavens and Earth.
The wonder of the Universe will envelop you during this unique staging in the Dome Theater at Exploration Place!
SILENT SKY is presented in partnership with
Performance Times and Location
January 22 & 23 @ 7:30 p.m.
January 25 @ 2:00 p.m.
January 31 @ 7:30 p.m.
February 1 @ 2:00 p.m.
The Dome at Exploration Place
What to Expect
The Dome transforms SILENT SKY into a celestial experience. Instead of traditional sets, the story unfolds against an ever-changing universe projected across the 60-foot dome that surrounds the audience. Sweeping star fields, shifting galaxies, and period imagery immerse you in Henrietta’s world—bringing her discoveries to life in a way that can only happen at Exploration Place.
This dynamic use of the Dome elevates the show beyond a stage play or film—it becomes an all-around visual journey through space and history.
Photo credit: Jill Harper. See more of her stunning photos from this production below.
SILENT SKY is Sponsored by:
Cast
Baylee Braswell
Williamina Fleming
Jackson Dorris
Peter Shaw
Jill Nicole Herbert
Henrietta Leavitt
Holland Lee Kiser
Margaret Leavitt
Lydia Pirilli
Annie Cannon
Creatives
Dr. Julie Longhofer
Director & Costume Design
Lauren Gunderson
Playwright
Kirk Longhofer
Sound Design
Stan Longhofer
Technical Direction & Lighting Design
Chelsie Penner
Stage Manager
Jordan Slusher
Video Design
Production Photos
Photo credit: Jill Harper
About Playwright Lauren Gunderson
Lauren is one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015 topping the list thrice including 2022-2023. She is a two-time winner of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I AND YOU and THE BOOK OF WILL, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Arthur L. Weissberger Award, and John Gassner Award for Playwriting. Her musical adaptation of THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE premieres on the West End this fall. REVOLUTIONARY WOMEN, her new anthology of five plays, was published by Bloomsbury in 2023. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her play THE CATASTROPHIST, about her husband virologist Nathan Wolfe, premiered digitally in January 2021 and is now in The COVID Art Capsule in the Library of Congress. She co-authored the MISS BENNET trilogy with Margot Melcon. THE HALF-LIFE OF MARIE CURIE premiered Off-Broadway and at Audible.com. Her work is published at Playscripts (I AND YOU; EXIT PURSUED BY A BEAR; THE TAMING; and TOIL AND TROUBLE), Dramatists Play Service (THE REVOLUTIONISTS; THE BOOK OF WILL; SILENT SKY; BAUER; NATURAL SHOCKS; THE WICKHAMS; MISS BENNET; and GEORGIANA AND KITTY), and Samuel French (EMILIE). Her picture book, DR WONDERFUL: BLAST OFF TO THE MOON is available from Two Lions/Amazon. She is the bookwriter for musicals with Dave Stewart and Joss Stone (THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE), Ari Afsar (JEANNETTE and I AND YOU), Joriah Kwamé (SINISTER), Kira Stone (BUILT FOR THIS) and Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk (JUSTICE and EARTHRISE). She is a board member of The Playwrights Foundation, and a member of the Aspen Institute Science and Society cohort.