When Henrietta Leavitt begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculates projects in “girl hours” and has no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love. The true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries, when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them. Social progress, like scientific progress, can be hard to see when one is trapped among earthly complications; Henrietta Leavitt and her female peers believe in both, and their dedication changed the way we understand both the heavens and Earth.

EPSG:4326

Silent Sky

University of Mississippi

Merril is one of silicon valley’s leading software engineers, but her life disintegrates when her younger sister Angie vanishes on her way home from college.  A year later, when the police have long abandoned their search, Merril assembles all the digital material Angie has left behind and sets about building herself a digital simulation of her sister.  The resultant ‘virtual Angie’ offers her some solace – until, that is, it starts to reveal new details about the real Angie's disappearance…

San Francisco-based Lauren Gunderson is one of the world’s most produced playwrights; her I and You was a huge success at Hampstead in 2018.  Author of over 20 plays, Lauren has also received the Lanford Wilson Award at the Dramatists Guild Awards and two Steinberg/ATCA New Play Awards. 

anthropology is the twelfth play that Anna Ledwich has directed for Hampstead, where her work has ranged from Labyrinth to the Olivier nominated productions of Dry Powder and Four Minutes Twelve Seconds.



Anthropology

Hampstead Theatre

Four beautiful, badass women lose their heads in this irreverent, girl-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. Playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen (and fan of ribbons) Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle hang out, murder Marat, and try to beat back the extremist insanity in 1793 Paris. This grand and dream-tweaked comedy is about violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we actually go about changing the world. It’s a true story. Or total fiction. Or a play about a play. Or a raucous resurrection…that ends in a song and a scaffold.

Lauren Gunderson

Events

Upcoming events

14 - 18 May, 2025

The Revolutionists · Tobin Center for the Performing Arts

Past events

Feb 23 - Mar 3, 2024

Silent Sky · University of Mississippi Department of Theatre & Film

Sep 7 - Oct 14, 2023

Anthropology · Hampstead Theatre

About

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