Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / "Silent Sky" - TPR's In Focus - April 9, 2026

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"Silent Sky" - TPR's In Focus - April 9, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Wiregrass Archives at Troy University's Dothan Campus,
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  identifying and preserving historical documents and photographs for research related to the
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  Wiregrass region. More information at troy.edu slash wiregrass archives.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is In Focus and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson. The successful Artemis II
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  mission around the moon is big news this week and the Red Door Theater in Union Springs is
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  following up with the play Silent Sky about pioneering work in astronomy. Director Kim
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  Mason joins us with a preview of the story of astronomers who changed science.
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  Kim Mason, it is such a thrill to welcome you back to Troy Public Radio.
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  Oh, thank you, Carolyn. I am just thrilled to be here talking to you. It's like being home again.
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  Well, Kim, let's remind the listeners that when you moved to Alabama many years ago,
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  you were part of Troy Public Radio. That's one reason we are celebrating your talent,
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  not only in media, but you're a playwright, you're a director, you're an actress with local theater.
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  Oh, goodness. You're certainly making me sound wonderful. I hope I can live up to that.
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  Well, speaking of your love of theater, you are directing a play that's coming up
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  in the Red Door Theater in historic Union Springs.
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  Yes. And listen, Carolyn, I cannot say enough good things about the theater itself,
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  the people who run it, the Tourism Council of Bullock County, Mitch Putnam, Zan Morrow,
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  the whole board is just wonderful. And they provide such a beautiful place for people to come
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  and experience storytelling at its finest, I'd like to say. But yes, I'm going to be directing
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  Silent Sky. A perfect follow-up to the Artemis moon mission. And it's a great opportunity to get
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  out of the city, enjoy this setting. And Silent Sky, Kim, the setting in Union Springs, would give
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  your audience an opportunity to look at the sky after the play. That is true. If they go to the
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  evening performances, now there are a couple of daytime performances, but you know, if they can't
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  see the night sky before or after the performance, they can certainly enjoy the drive. It's a
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  beautiful drive up there. But yes, the sky is the star, pun intended, of the show.
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  Tell me more about the story behind the play.
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  Oh, it is a beautiful play. You know, the Red Door Theater, they really promote Southern stories and
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  Southern playwrights. Well, this story is not really a Southern story, but Lauren Gunderson,
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  the playwright, is from Atlanta. So she is our Southern gal, and we are featuring one of her
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  beautiful plays. She has written many. In fact, actually, Lauren Gunderson is one of the most
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  produced playwrights in America right now. So this show, Silent Sky, is in good company with many of
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  her other plays that are just beautiful. But this one in particular, I saw this play many years ago,
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  and it stayed with me. It was one of those stories that stayed with me. It moved me so much.
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  The beauty of the words. The story is of a pioneering astronomer. Her name was Henrietta
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  Leavitt, and she was in the early 1900s at Harvard Observatory, where she wasn't even allowed,
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  women were not allowed to even touch the telescope, much less be credited for any work
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  that they may have done. So this is really her story. Kim, she changed the science of astronomy.
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  There is Leavitt's law these days. Yes. That measures the distance to stars from Earth.
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  She discovered it. She did. She tirelessly worked for years and years and discovered that the period
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  of a star's brightness cycle relates to its distance, and it allowed us to measure the
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  universe. It's just incredible. As a director, how difficult was it to put this story on a stage when
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  you're talking about the night sky, the silent sky, and her life? Well, it starts with telling
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  the theater, saying, I have to have a star curtain. And you say, what is a star curtain?
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  It is a giant curtain that is at the back of the stage, and it is programmed to look like stars.
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  It looks like stars, not necessarily the night's constellations, anything specific,
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  but it certainly takes you there. And like I said, the words are so beautiful, and the story is so
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  moving and so real, and these characters are so rich and wonderful that you're engulfed in this
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  world, and you see things even if they're not there, if that makes any sense. Kim, I noticed
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  in her life that she was actually nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, but the committee didn't realize
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  that she had died three years earlier. And it's incredible, the tribute to her science that she
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  was nominated for this prize. Yes. Isn't that crazy that the world we live in today is so global, and
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  we have information at our fingertips at any given moment, but they didn't even know that she
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  had passed away. And it was three years after her death that she was offered this huge award that
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  certainly women did not get offered in those days, weren't recognized for all their hard work.
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  Tell me about the cast of the play, Silent Sky. Well, I actually had done this play a couple of
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  years ago at the Watumka Depot, and at that time I had an amazing cast of people. It's just five
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  people in the show. There are four women and one man. And the play is so beautiful and beloved,
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  and we had such a wonderful time that I actually got two of my original actresses back for this
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  show. Hilary Taylor will be playing the main character of Henrietta Leavitt, and Tammy Arvidson
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  will be playing Annie Cannon, who was a real person and made many discoveries in her own
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  right. And then another real-life person, Wilhelmina Fleming, is going to be played by
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  Sarah Shelmutt. And these are real women who made all these wonderful discoveries through their work
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  and were credited very little certainly at that time. It's so unusual and unique that Henrietta
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  Leavitt was allowed to pursue her science at the Harvard Observatory during the early 1920s.
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  As you pointed out, women really did not have a role at that time. No, but I think it's a testament
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  to how hard they worked, because this is a true story, and it's in the play that Pickering, the
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  man who was over the observatory at the time, he got so frustrated with the men who were working
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  for him that he said, my housekeeper can do a better job than this. So he ended up hiring his
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  housekeeper to come look at the plates and measure, and that was Wilhelmina Fleming. And she made many
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  discoveries, and she was so good he thought, well, I'm just going to hire more women. And that's the
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  way it all started. That is fascinating. It really is. Give us the dates for Silent Sky coming up.
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  Yes, it's going to be April 23rd through 26th. It's one weekend only. The Thursday and Friday
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  shows are going to be at 7 30 in the evening, and the Saturday and Sunday shows are both matinees
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  at 2 30. But I encourage everyone to come and see the theater and see the show and experience
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  really a one-of-a-kind evening. So Kim, for further information, should people go to
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  reddoortheater.org for ticket information and more information about Silent Sky and the rest
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  of the season? Yes, absolutely. It's reddoortheater.org. There is a phone number on the website,
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  but if they want tickets, they can call. Is there anything else you'd like to leave with your
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  listeners? I think the main thing would be don't let the subject matter scare you. It is sciency,
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  but it is one of the most beautiful stories that I've ever heard. It's so gorgeous. I just invite
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  people to come and enjoy. Kim, it is great to visit with you. Thank you so much. Thank you,
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  Kelly. That was Kim Mason, who is directing the upcoming play, Silent Sky, April 23rd through
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  April 26th at the historic Red Door Theater in Union Springs, Alabama. More information about
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  tickets can be found at the website, reddoortheater.org. Thanks for joining us for
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  In Focus, which is a podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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  I'm Carolyn Hutcheson, and this is listener-supported Troy Public Radio.