Measure the Universe | Ellie Levine

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The Women Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe

Director/Creator

Measure the Universe, 2023

Playwright: Daisy Garrison

Devising Ensemble: Delia Cunningham, Stella Cole, Emily Brooks, Cailyn Johnson, Saidie Stone, Autumn Thelander, Melani Kaplan, Gretchen Gannon, Ruby Gibson

Photography: Amira K. Danan

"Amazing, riveting, and world-class theatre"

"Brilliantly directed...an ensemble so tight it felt like a single performer"

The Harvard Computers worked by daylight at The Harvard Observatory, studying photographic plates of the night sky. These women made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of astronomy that shaped how we understand the universe. During this year-long devised process, their stories were brought to life through movement, music, and text.

Watch the trailer here

"In one of our first rehearsals, Ellie turned myself and another actor loose with a brief prompt of creating a sequence in which we depicted the formulaic and intense daily work of the Harvard Computers. We made a small sequence of repeatable gestures, and when we brought it back to Ellie, she managed to transform our miniature combination into a group number, in which all members of the cast performed a version of this movement in cannon, with text overlaid. The final product was complex, engaging, and effective storytelling, which only worked because of such wonderful collaboration."

-Autumn Thelander, Actor

"Ellie Levine is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever shared a rehearsal room with. Her passion is infectious - when you know your director spent hours the day before meticulously and lovingly prepping for a rehearsal, it makes everyone in the room excited to match her enthusiasm. This deep passion for her work mixed with her incredible intelligence and her minute attention to detail are only a few of the qualities that make her the powerhouse that she is."

-Stella Cole, Actor