Alliance for the Arts Presents The Women Who Mapped the Stars by Joyce Van Dyke, Directed by Todd Sherman

Performances are February 8-10 and 15-17 at 7:30 PM and February 18 at 2:00 PM

FORT MYERS, FL (January 19, 2024)– Theatre Conspiracy at Alliance for the Arts presents The Women Who Mapped the Stars by Joyce Van Dyke and directed by Todd Sherman. The cast includes Lauren Drexler, Shelley Sanders, Ellie Appelgren, Isabella Cintron and Stacy Stauffe.

Performances are February 8-10 and 15-17 at 7:30 pm, as well as Sunday, February 18 at 2:00 pm. All performances are held at and for the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium (3450 Ortiz Ave, Fort Myers, FL 33905) as a fundraising event. 

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a group of women astronomers working at the Harvard College Observatory made discoveries that changed the way we saw the universe, helping to change the role of women in science. The Women Who Mapped the Stars is the story of five remarkable women and the relay race of scientific inquiry between scientists and generations toward ever greater light and truth.Van Dyke’s clever premise brings together five important women from two different periods in the history of the Harvard Observatory. 

Beginning in 1881, Willamina Flemming, Henrietta Swan Leavitt , Annie Jump Cannon and Antonia Maury were key members on the team of “computers” which was under the direction of Edward Charles Pickering. Pickering is credited with leading the Harvard Observatory during its most active years, and the brilliant women at the center of this play were labeled, sadly, members of “Pickering’s Harem.”

Van Dyke’s story endeavors not only to tell this important story with accuracy and aplomb, but also to help us understand some of the science that these passionate women had mastered. 

The Women Who Mapped the Stars, originally commissioned by Central Square Theater with early script development assistance from The Poets’ Theatre and Jessica Ernst, is the inaugural play in the Brit D’Arbeloff Women in Science Production Series. Van Dyke currently teaches playwriting and Shakespeare at both Northeastern and Harvard. 

Todd Sherman studied theatre, specifically Stage Management and Directing, and received a B.A. in Theatre Arts in 1985 from Castleton State College in Castleton Vermont. He went on to earn an M.F.A. in Directing from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in 1988. He also works at the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium and has knowledge of the women and their accomplishments.

Tickets are $27 for members, $32 for non-members and $14 for students with a valid ID. Tickets are available at ArtInLee.org or by calling 239-939-2787. Performances are February 8-10 and 15-17 at 7:30 pm, as well as Sunday, February 18 at 2:00 pm. All performances are held at and for the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium (3450 Ortiz Ave, Fort Myers, FL 33905) as a fundraising event.

About Alliance for the Arts

The Alliance for the Arts is a nonprofit community visual and performing arts center located in the heart of Fort Myers, Florida. Since 1975, the Alliance has been committed to transforming lives and improving community through the arts. The Alliance campus and galleries are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Located at 10091 McGregor Boulevard just south of Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers. For more information, please call 239-939-2787, visit us at www.ArtInLee.org, find us on Facebook and  Instagram.