Late 1800s, Harvard College Observatory. “Computers” – women employed for half a man’s salary to analyze astronomic data — show us that the universe is larger than we ever dreamed. The thrilling story of five women who changed the way astronomers saw the universe – from scientist to scientist and generation to generation. The Women Who Mapped the Stars, a world premiere by Joyce Van Dyke, is the untold story of brave women in science who paved the way for previously impossible advances in astronomy.

The Women Who Mapped the Stars is part of The Brit d’Arbeloff Women in Science Production Series.
A Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production.

Dream it. Be it. Gala

Monday, April 30, 2018

Central Square Theater

Honoring

Matt Wilson, Executive Director, MassCreative
For Leadership in Arts Advocacy

and

The Front Porch Arts Collective
The Margret and H.A. Rey Curiosity Award Recipients

5:30PM Registration, Cocktail Hour & Silent Auction

6:30PM Performances, Awards & Auction

7:30PM Dinner & Music at La Fabrica

Attend as an Individual

Leading Role – $250

Sponsor a Ticket for a CST artist – $125

Attend as a Sponsor

Includes Gala Ticket & Exclusive Benefits!

Director – $2,500 (6 tickets)

Producer- $5,000 (12 tickets)

Luminary $10,000 (18 tickets)

Central Square Theater staff will work with each Sponsor to customize exclusive benefits commensurate with the sponsorship level.

Buy Tickets & Sponsorships Online

Host Committee

Central Square Theater Board of Directors

Sallie Adams
Betsy Bard
Martin Blatt
Downing Cless
Mary Dill
Allison Coleman
Subrata Das
Lee Mikeska Gardner
Betsy Groban
Jim Kaufman
Linda Lipkin
Rakel Meir
Jane Minasian
Carolyn Mugar
Laura Roberts
Simar Singh
Melanie Wallace
Debra Wise

Catalyst Collaborative @ MIT Sponsor

Philip Khoury, Chair, Advisory Committee
Ford International Professor of History, Associate Provost, MIT

Thank you to our Sponsors:

Cocktail Hour Sponsor – Viale
Dinner Sponsor – La Fabrica

Complimentary Parking for Gala Guests available at  University Garage@MIT. Just park there before the Gala and then when you check in ask for a  Parking Voucher and your parking is free!

France, before the revolution. Two decadent, aristocratic ex-lovers conspire in drawing rooms and boudoirs, swooping down on the innocent and naïve, and playfully keeping score of their depravity with delicious ribald wit. Lee Mikeska Gardner helmed the play in Washington DC with an all-male cast. Bringing that concept to The Nora, notions of gender politics are skewed with the sexual, amoral, manipulative game envisioned through new eyes. Money, mayhem and men – see why Gardner’s production was hailed as “Gutsy… groundbreaking theater” by DCist.

Content Warning: Full nudity, sexual content, violence, and a damn good sword fight. Suggested age: 18 and over.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses in #30Seconds

Lee Mikeska Gardner introduces Les Liaisons Dangereuses
The Artistic Director of The Nora Theatre Company and Director of Les Liaisons Dangereuses shares her thoughts and intentions on why she chose an all male cast.

‘A play about women navigating a man’s world is an old story. A play in which men are required to speak in women’s voices, live a woman’s life, love and engage in sex, grapple with consent as a woman, navigate an unequivocal male world as a woman – that’s a Nora play.’

Combatting the “Male Gaze”
In the program notes, Cecilia Burke discusses the “male gaze” in the context of The Nora Theatre Company’s production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

‘In her 1999 essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” published over 200 years after the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Laura Mulvey conveyed her view that art was being made solely for and through the eyes of heterosexual males. She posited that art looked at women, instead of endowing them with their own perspective or voice, and she called this concept the “male gaze.”’

Book Your Tickets Now!

Yasmeen, a Muslim-American teenager in the Bronx, meets with her teacher Dr. Royston, a mysterious scientist forced to teach high school biology. If she salvages her perfect score, she can claim her independence: pursue her passion for science while honoring her cultural traditions. An unlikely, inspired partnership is created, investigating adolescent romantic love. Clashes arise out of their conflicts over religion, science, and mentorship as both teacher’s and student’s lives are transformed forever.

A Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production

Paradise was recognized by StageSource’s “Standing O” for promoting gender parity in theater. Click here to learn more and find other shows that celebrate gender parity.