REVIEW: Silent Sky teaches love is space and time measured by our hearts

by Gerone Baladhay

Science, astrophysics, nebulae, cepheids or comparative-analysis may not be the words you would expect as ingredients on the recipe of love nor would it spell appealing for a play.

However, it takes one Henrietta Leavitt and her Harvard peers, to smash first impressions as exhilaratingly portrayed in a story of breaking women stereotypes, pursuing dreams, and learning that love can shine as bright as a star even if you’re not looking through a telescope.

Repertory Philippines’s restaging of Lauren Guenderson’s Silent Sky at the Carlos Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati is not just about the science of space, but the science of human emotions that is of earthly experiences which can be easily felt through the word play of a wonderfully written script. No sweat since Director Joy Virata has an adept and accomplished cast to bring the story to life in a humorous, but above all- triumphant way.

Silent Sky put to light, Leavitt (played by Cathy Azanza-Dy) the trek of a Wisconsin lady with a hearing loss who made breakthrough astronomical discoveries which provided other astronomers with the first “standard” to measure the distance to galaxies, beyond our very own, this despite social forces that limited what Leavitt and her female colleagues were allowed to do.

Upon getting a position at Harvard University observatory, Leavitt struggled in juggling her heart’s beacon between the family she left behind, a lovely and taunting sister (played by Caisa Borromeo) and a pastor-father whose support is but held back if not for the love of his daughter; or the work that gives her purpose in life- a place in the universe.

Her works, supported by fellow “computers”- Annie Cannon (played by Bibeth Orteza) and Wilhelmina Fleming (played by Naths Everett), is a result of her perseverance in charting and mapping stars only to map unexpectedly, a star to make her see the universe in a bigger picture in the person of – Peter Shaw (played by Topper Fabregas) that sparked a love story, which like a falling star, burned out to soon.

The two-part play is a ramble of emotions with no warnings what’s to come next; from comedic chit-chats between Leavitt, her sister and colleagues to sentimental silent moments that makes your heart beat because of “kilig” between her and Shaw, which is a central constellation in the story. Leavitt and Shaw already have an understanding of the universe, at times contrasting beliefs, but their growing love for one another simply gave the universe and their place in it a meaning. A kind of love that would make you realize why the stars decided to climb the sky and light it up.

However, the romance did not dim the occurring theme of women’s rights, especially their role in science, as well as the different forms “love” takes into, not only between woman-man, sisterly bond, but love between two women as well. Leavitt’s ambition and her passion for her work points out the life of a significant but little-known scientist, which leaves the audience wondering why her accomplishments are so overlooked.

The minimalist set and the entrancing starry sky background just takes you to the cosmos. In the end, the play is but a telescope that allowed us to see that life and all its aspect, especially love- is simply space and time measured only by our hearts, heard under the silent sky.

“Silent Sky” plays only for a few days at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza on February 1 to 10, 2019. Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3:00pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm.