Night Sky
By Susan Yankowitz
Producing Sponsor: Kit Seidel
Directed by Grace Stormer
Night Sky theatrically explores what Steven Hawking has called the two mysteries remaining to us: the brain and the cosmos. When she is hit by a car, the brilliant and articulate astronomer Anna loses her ability to speak, a condition known as aphasia. What emerges from her mouth is a hodge-podge of unconnected words alternately confusing, funny, original and wise – and sometimes all four. In a series of brief, often comic episodes, the play follows Anna through her illness and ultimate acceptance of herself – a personal triumph, despite a continuing infirmity – and dramatizes the impact of her changed circumstances on her lover, her teenage daughter and her professional life.
Everyone will be touched by the themes this play considers – language, inner and outer space, the challenges of a devastating affliction, the consolations and ordeals of family life and, most of all, the universal hunger and need for communication.
“Susan Yankowitz’s Night Sky is a rare thing: a play with a mind. It is also about the mind as universe, where language is internal astronomy. It shows us that more than hearts can be broken.” – Variety
Staged Reading
Full-Length Play
Drama
Admission: $10.00
Performances:
Friday, August 16, 2024, 7:30pm
Saturday, August 17, 2024, 7:30 pm
Cast:
ANNA - Samantha Paige
DANIEL - Sam Scherrer
JENNIFER - Bryn Scheid
BILL - Jeff Boyce
SPEECH THERAPIST - Danielle Katers
APHASIC PATIENT - Peter Kao
STAGE DIRECTIONS - Summer Kleppek