DEFYING GRAVITY
Written by Jane Anderson
WHEN: June 13-28, 8 PM Fridays and Saturdays, with a 3 PM matinee Sunday, June 29. A wine and cheese reception will follow the opening night performance.
WHERE: Circle Theater, 416 Victoria Ave., Piscataway
TICKETS: $18 for adults and $17 for students and seniors.
For reservations, call 732.968.7555, or buy tickets online at www.circleplayers.com. ($1 per ticket discount online.)
Sorry, no credit cards can be accepted at the theater box office, but may be used online.
The play, while fiction, is tied to the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, in which civilian Christa McAuliffe and the astronauts aboard the flight were killed. The play's main characters are "Teacher" (the McAuliffe character) and her daughter Elizabeth. McAuliffe's daughter was six years old when her mother died.
The play explores our need to reach beyond ourselves and brave the universe. It interweaves the past with the present and the lives of participants and bystanders, drawing parallels among painter Claude Monet’s artistic quest, the zest of the teacher selected to be the first civilian astronaut, and the perspectives of her grieving daughter.
It also addresses the aspirations of elderly tourists who drive their Winnebago to Florida to watch the space shot and dream of hotels in space, the guilt felt by a NASA mechanic, and his girlfriend’s fear of heights.
Tina Lee of Somerset is the director, and Lisa Sudfield of Port Reading is the producer. Chris Chalcraft of South River is stage manager.
Appearing onstage are Alison Byrne, Metuchen; Christie Leigh Carver, Somerset; Stephen Mennella, Dunellen; Diane L. Parker, Laurence Harbor; Ray Proietti, Manalapan; Alberta Thompson, Staten Island, NY; and Lewis Decker, Millington.
