Crystal Skillman's The Rocket Men to Have Rolling World Premiere

Playwright Crystal Skillman will receive a National New Play Network rolling world premiere of her play The Rocket Men with Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre in Indianapolis (September 4–21), Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta (October 9–November 2), and Angels Theatre Company in Lincoln, Nebraska (March 12–22).

In The Rocket Men, six women play the roles of the former Nazis who used their scientific skills to flee Germany and settle in the most unlikely place: northern Alabama. These women share their stories about this team that became the backbone of what we know today as the American Space Program. The play explores the cost of their scientific advancements and asks audiences to consider whose names are remembered in history, and why.

The Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre and Angels Theatre Company premieres will be directed by Timothy W. Scholl, executive artistic director of Angels Theatre Company. The Synchronicity Theatre production will be directed by its artistic director Rachel May.

Paige Elisse, Constance Macy, Jennifer Johansen, Milicent Wright, Jolene Mentink Moffatt, Jaddy Cuici, and Bibi Heredia will star in the play at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre. The creative team includes set designer Robert M. Koharchik, lighting designer Laura Glover, projections designer by Katie Phelan Mayfield, costume designer Anthony James Sirk, and sound designer by Jason Tuttle.

The Synchronicity Theatre cast features Laura Edwards Boston, Amelia Fischer, Imani Joseph, Gillian Rabin, Suzanne Roush, and Vallea E. Woodbury. The creative team includes set designer Gabrielle Stephenson, props designer Tierney Breedlove, costume designer Hollis Smith, projections designer Amanda Sachtleben, and lighting designer Elisabeth Cooper.