The Lightest Element

Boston, 1956. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, one of the most eminent astronomers of the twentieth century, is about to be appointed Chair of Astronomy and the first woman to head a department at Harvard University. Only two things stand in her way: a covert investigation aimed at exposing her as a Communist sympathiser, and the entrenched conservatism of her male colleagues.

When a student journalist asks to profile her, it feels like an opportunity to control her own narrative - assuming, of course, that the invitation is actually what it seems...

Stella Feehily’s play The Lightest Element is a taut drama exploring how a challenge to social norms can be almost as difficult as overturning scientific orthodoxy. It premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2024, directed by Alice Hamilton.

Stella Feehily is an Irish playwright and actor. She was co-winner of the 2007 Susan Smith Blackburn Award for O Go My Man (Royal Court Theatre & Out of Joint, 2006).

Her other plays include: This May Hurt A Bit (Out of Joint & Octagon Theatre, 2014); Bang Bang Bang (Out of Joint & Octagon Theatre, 2011); Dreams of Violence (Soho Theatre & Out of Joint, 2009); and Duck (Out of Joint, 2003).