Who are you and what is your role in Silent Sky? I am Lauren Hughes, and I am playing Henrietta Leavitt. She is a total hero in the astronomy world of the early 1900’s, and also an absolute fireball in this play. Fun fact: She and I share a birthday!
What is your background in theatre? I recently graduated the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting degree at the University of Alberta. I received extensive training there for performance, and am excited to work in this intimate space.
What brought you out for this show? I am deeply fascinated by people of history, and the playwright’s adaptation of these people’s lives is especially beautiful and fun. I also worked with (director) Kim Mattice Wanat in university, and was drawn by the opportunity to work with her!
Why should people come and see Silent Sky? This show is remarkably human. It fleshes out these people to remind us that that is what they were: people. It’s easy to disconnect from the names we read in textbooks, but these women did incredible things that seem completely impossible. It’s beautiful to remember their discoveries, that we may take for granted today, and how much work, and bravery it demanded of them to accomplish.
Silent Sky deals with women scientists whose contributions to science have been overlooked. Who is your favourite overlooked woman scientist? Mary Anning was a woman who lived in the coastal town of Lyme Regis, England in the early 19th century. Her family and herself searched for and sold fossils to support themselves. When Mary was 12, she found the first full dinosaur skeleton ever discovered, which was of the Icthyosaurus (a sea dinosaur) which is now known to date back 200 million years. After this discovery, she spent her whole life searching for more, with her findings including a full Plesiosaurus, and a Pterodactylus. These discoveries catalyzed scientific thinking, and challenged the widely accepted Earth timeline provided by the Bible. Her findings kick-started paleontology. Today Lyme Regis is known as the Jurassic Coast. (Source: https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.sciencefocus.com/science/10-amazing-women-in-science-history-you-really-should-know-about/amp/ )