Because of the recent inclement weather, the U of A Department of Theatre is adding extra showings of its production of Silent Sky by playwright Lauren Gunderson.

The updated run includes originally scheduled shows at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22 as well as a 2 p.m. show on Sunday, Feb. 23.

Added shows will also now take place at 7:30 p.m. on both Sunday, Feb. 23 and Monday, Feb. 24, and all shows will be performed at the University Theatre in the Fine Arts Center.  

The play Silent Sky tells the true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and explores a woman's place in society during a time of immense scientific discovery.

With lots of music and math, the play isn't one to be missed and aims to change the way we understand both the heavens and Earth.

The show is directed by Sarah Behrend-Wilcox, who shared the following thoughts about the show:

"Humans have been looking up for millennia searching for an answer to the age-old question: What gives a life meaning? We live in a world full of seemingly unanswerable questions.

But we must remember that just over a century ago - when astronomers like Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Annie Jump Cannon, and Williamina Fleming were creating and analyzing the most comprehensive star catalogue of the time - we did not yet know that the universe extended beyond our Milky Way galaxy.

In fact, without the work of those women, we may still not know the vastness of the universe. Think, then, about how many of those seemingly unanswerable questions we will have answered in another century. And the century after that. And the century after that. And on and on through the millennia that humans will (hopefully) continue to exist.  

I hope you leave this theatre having found some answers. But more than anything, I hope you leave this theatre with a sense of peace in the not knowing. I hope you go out and seek answers for yourself. And I hope that - whether or not you find those answers - you discover that it is not the answer but the journey, the innate curiosity of humanity, that fills a life with meaning."

TICKETS

To get tickets for this production, either visit to the Department of Theatre's website or call the Box Office at 479-575-5387 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Remember that U of A students, staff and faculty receive a discount on these tickets. 

About the Department of Theatre: The University of Arkansas Department of Theatre has been providing exciting and affordable theatre for more than 60 years. The department combines a first-rate theatrical education full of hands-on experience with a wide selection of titles to challenge students and the community. The department offers the Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre, a broad-spectrum program in the context of a liberal arts education, and the Master of Fine Arts degree in six concentrations: Acting, Directing, Playwriting, Costume Design, Scene Design and Lighting Design.