Silent Sky at Wollongong Workshop Theatre

“How do you celebrate measuring the Universe?

For the third production of their 2025 season, Wollongong Workshop Theatre is presenting a beautiful and moving journey through the cosmos with Silent Sky.

Written by multi-award-winning American playwright Lauren Gunderson, Silent Sky follows the career of pioneering astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt. Working at the Harvard College Observatory at the turn of the 20th century, Leavitt’s job as a “computer” was to record information about the brightness of stars from photographic plates. Despite not being allowed to use the famous Great Refractor telescope, Leavitt observed a relationship between the brightness and pulsations of certain stars and used this information to work out a method for measuring the distance to faraway galaxies. This extraordinary achievement redefined the way we understand the size of the universe and paved the way for countless other astronomical discoveries.

“Henrietta Leavitt was a pioneer of astronomy, especially considering she was working in a time when women weren’t able to be ‘real’ astronomers,” says director Belinda Balhatchet. Her discovery was a seminal moment for the field, but she is often not recognised when people think of key astronomers from history. Silent Sky tells the story of Henrietta’s life and her achievements in a beautiful package of light, music and love. I adore this story, and I think audiences will too.”

Silent Sky also highlights two other astronomers working around the same time as Leavitt; Annie ‘Jump’ Cannon and Williamina Fleming. Both made significant contributions to the field of astronomy to in their own right. Throughout her career, Annie Cannon logged more stars than anyone else has ever achieved – 350,000 – while Williamina Fleming discovered the Horsehead Nebula and the first white dwarf star.

Featuring a cast of five local performers and bursting with music and light, Silent Sky promises delight anyone who holds a fascination for the stars.

Silent Sky opens at the Wollongong Workshop Theatre on 20 June and plays until 5 July, including an Auslan interpreted performance on Sunday 29 June. Performances will run from 7:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 pm on Sundays, at 190 Gipps Road, Gwynneville (behind the Senior Citizens Centre).

Tickets are $30 per person, or $25 for concession cardholders.

Bookings: https://www.wollongongworkshoptheatre.com.au/

Photographer: Luke Bitschkat