Performing Arts at Our Oneonta Campuses by Rachel Frick Cardelle
‘Silent Sky’ Takes the Stage at SUNY Oneonta
Since I was a child looking up at the night sky, it has been easy for me to imagine that the stars have always been there, waiting for us to understand them. For 23 years, my great-grandfather was the Dominion Astronomer of Canada and taught my mother, who then taught me, to look up at the stars. The memories of lying on my back beside my mum as we looked for Cassiopeia in the night sky are so vivid and warm they make me teary, and I miss her. So, when I read the script for Lauren Gunderson’s “Silent Sky,” I got excited that it is going to be the first SUNY Oneonta production for the fall semester. It’s a historical drama based on the life and work of Henrietta Leavitt.
Who is Henrietta Leavitt, you ask? That you probably don’t know is one of the key points of the play. She was one of myriad women who served as the “Harvard Computers,” skilled females who performed the long, tedious tasks of processing astronomical data that allowed the male astronomers to build their own careers and reputations. The women didn’t receive recognition for their discoveries, however. Henrietta’s discovery of the period-luminosity relationship in Cepheid variable stars provided the first reliable cosmic yardstick, revolutionizing how astronomers measure vast distances in the universe. For example, her work allowed astronomers to determine the size of our galaxy and show that Earth is not at its center. (While I haven’t relied on Leavitt’s work, I can verify that I have collected my own data and I’m also not at the universe’s center, either.) Edwin Hubble, of the Hubble Telescope fame, used the Cepheid variable to discover the universe is expanding, laying the groundwork for the Big Bang theory.
After reading “Silent Sky,” I headed to SUNY Oneonta’s Goodrich Theatre to interview some of the cast and crew and watch a rehearsal. We talked about things the actors were learning from watching one another, production challenges and what each person took away from the play. While writing this column over the past three years, I have come to appreciate how supportive of one another the students in both the SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick theater departments are, and that trait showed up early on in our discussion. When I asked the group what they were learning and who they are watching in rehearsals, they jumped right in.
“Elyssa and I have worked together before, and I think that a lot of her performance and character work is spot on, and it comes so naturally and effortlessly. I know that’s not what’s actually going on, but the way it comes through [her] is just profound…Sometimes I have a hard time hearing myself and where my voice sits in a character. I think that [Elyssa] does just a really good job of that,” Zoe (Henrietta) shared.
She wasn’t the only one who was learning about voice from a fellow actor. Both Evi (Margaret, Henrietta’s sister) and Dan (Peter, Henrietta’s boyfriend) felt they were learning from watching and listening to Maja (Willamina, Henrietta’s co-worker) as she learned to adopt a Scottish accent for her character.
Evi began, “I watch Maja. Her role is freaking hard. She has to talk in a Scottish accent for the whole hour and a half, and not once does she bat an eye. She just went up there and she tackled it, and I swear to God, by the first rehearsal, she had that down.”
“I was also going to say Maja because of the Scottish accent, because I like to play around with doing voices and stuff, and I know how difficult it can be to stay in one accent. I’ll say one word and it totally just unravels the accent I’m on, and just the consistency Maja has, with every line. It’s really impressive, being able to be consistent with that,” Dan added.
I shared that I just saw Kenneth Branagh in “Mayday,” in which he plays a Russian, and I was not impressed with his consistency with his accent. Drew, the director and theater faculty member who is well educated about these things but has not seen the movie, was surprised because Branagh has previously used Russian and other accents and been good. It could be that I don’t know what I’m talking about. Still, I can tell you that after watching the play rehearsal, I agree with Dan and Evi, and I think Maja does much better with her accent than Kenny did with his. (Please don’t tell him I said so, though, as he’s got a fragile ego.)
When I asked them what’s been the hardest thing for each of them about this play, Elyssa (Annie, the head of the Harvard Computers group and Henrietta’s direct supervisor) was quick to jump in.
“The science. I’m not science-y at all. I don’t get the music notes. I don’t get the stars. I don’t get the supernovae. But I act like I do! I act like I know the stars like the back of my hand…but I don’t!” Elyssa laughed.
Drew and I assured her that this is a skill that, applied properly, can be very useful in life.
Zoe felt the hardest part was making sure she carried the responsibility of playing a real person with the respect she deserves.
“Knowing this is a real person, and for some people this will be their first impression of who this woman is, that means a lot to me…I was talking to my grandma this morning about the play, and she said, ‘Yeah, I remember I wasn’t allowed to get a credit card when I was your age,’ and that hit me…the things that these women [the Harvard Computers] were going out of their way to do with everything against them, and what they were able to accomplish is extraordinary. It’s also something people need to know.”
Which brought us to talking about the meaning of the play.
Delilah (assistant stage manager) shared, “What I take away from “Silent Sky” is that it’s how everybody has their own goals, but it’s also to show people today how important it was back then for women to fight for what they wanted, and it’s inspiring because people are still fighting for what they need today…”
For Elyssa, it was about the voices around you and what you internalize from those voices.
“‘Silent Sky,’ to me, is the importance of who you choose to listen to, in the sense that there are people that will tell you ‘You can’t,’ and there are people who will tell you, ‘You can, and it’s hard,’ and it’s who you choose to listen to…and what you choose to believe, and what you choose to carry with you, and how it impacts you,” she began. “I think the people around you have a bigger impact than you think, and it depends a lot on who you choose to listen to and what advice you take, and who you lean on when you need it.”
Maja agreed with her, expanding on it. “I think the biggest thing that I got from ‘Silent Sky’ was how to hurt in the right moments. I think it’s just the constant ‘You can’t do this! You shouldn’t do this! You shouldn’t go out…You shouldn’t pursue…’ I think the hurt of every character in this play contributes to history and modern feminism. And I think to really become your most authentic, beautiful self, and how to know yourself, is by going through the process of hurt, being resilient, and moving on, no matter what that might be, to help you move on.”
“It is just this beautiful story of human connection,” Lindsey (stage manager) added. “There has always been this kind of sisterhood in the world, and women historically flocking together. With the science aspect of it, it’s also this beautiful metaphor for the harmony of nature, the earth, sea, sky metaphor keeps coming back to me. [There’s an] ebbing and flowing of the energy moving from one person to another.
“Henrietta mentions energy isn’t ever lost, it just changes form. We need to learn from these historical stories, as to not repeat the same mistakes and to not silence the people who shouldn’t be silenced and the people who are doing good work and the people who are doing good things,” Lindsey said.
As I watched the play, I got caught up in this strong group of women and after, I thought about my mum, who entered college wanting to be a mathematician but had to settle for philosophy, as math wasn’t an appropriate major for a female. I’m glad I got to lie next to her many a night, looking at the stars. She would have loved the story of Henrietta and the other Harvard Computers.
“Silent Sky,” directed by Andrew Kahl, plays at SUNY Oneonta’s Goodrich Theater with shows at 7:30 p.m. October 1-3 and at 2 p.m. on October 4. Tickets are free with a SUNY Oneonta student ID and $5.00 for general admission.
Next up: SUNY Oneonta presents “The State of Affairs,” October 22-25.
Rachel Frick Cardelle covers performing arts at SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College.
