Rockets, Redemption, and Reckoning: The Making of Synchronicity's 'The Rocket Men'
Welcome to the premiere episode of Synchronicity Insights, where we explore how Atlanta's Synchronicity Theatre measures and shares its community impact through qualitative research and storytelling.
In this dramaturgical deep dive, host Kacie Luaders, Synchronicity's 2025 Community Engagement Data Fellow, sits down with playwright Crystal Skillman and director Rachel May to unpack "The Rocket Men", Synchronicity's 2025-26 season opener that asks uncomfortable questions about progress, complicity, and redemption.
"The Rocket Men" tells the true story of Operation Paperclip, when German scientists came to America after WWII and became the backbone of NASA's space program. Set in Huntsville, Alabama from 1955 through the 1970s, the play follows rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and the younger engineer Herman Curler as they navigate their past while racing to put Americans on the moon.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
• Why Crystal Skillman chose to tell this "perfect American story" about reinvention, ambition, and buried pasts
• How Rachel May uses intimate staging and an all-female cast to create distance and perspective on these historical figures
• Why questions of complicity matter now—and how living under any government implicates us in its choices
• The theatrical techniques that bring this rolling world premiere to life, including Brechtian staging and projection design
• How this production connects to Synchronicity's mission to uplift women's voices through female actors embodying male historical figures
• What "smart, gutsy, and bold theatre" looks like when tackling complex history without easy answers
FEATURED GUESTS:
Crystal Skillman - Award-winning playwright of "The Rocket Men" and numerous other works exploring science, technology, and humanity. Crystal discusses her research process, including her visit to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, and why she was drawn to the story of scientists who wanted to escape war and reach for the stars.
Rachel May - Producing Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Synchronicity Theatre. Rachel shares why she selected this play as the season opener, her personal connection to Holocaust history, and how Synchronicity's intimate 138-seat theatre creates a "fly on the wall" experience in the scientists' offices.
ABOUT SYNCHRONICITY THEATRE:
Synchronicity Theatre is Atlanta's only theatre founded by and in support of women. For 27 years, Synchronicity has produced smart, gutsy, and bold theatre to spark community connections and uplift the voices of women and girls. At least 85% of Synchronicity's produced plays are by women playwrights.
Beyond mainstage productions, Synchronicity reaches over 20,000 people annually through Bold Voices Series (contemporary plays for adults), Family Series (plays that inspire imagination and encourage literacy), Playmaking for Girls (empowerment program for teen girls in group homes and refugee communities), Playmaking for Kids & Playmakers (after-school theatre education), New Stages Literacy Tour (bringing theatre to schools across Georgia), Production Boot Camp (workforce development for technical theatre positions), Designers of Color Initiative (supporting emerging BIPOC designers), and Stripped Bare (arts incubator for new work).
ABOUT THE ROCKET MEN:
"The Rocket Men" is a rolling world premiere produced in partnership with Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis) and Omaha Community Playhouse (Nebraska), as part of the National New Play Network. The play spans from 1955 to the 1970s, exploring the careers of Wernher von Braun and Herman Curler as they work at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, eventually leading the U.S. space program.
The production features an all-female cast, projection design that merges past and future, and what Crystal calls "uncovering history" both literally and metaphorically on stage.
RESOURCES & LINKS:
Website: synchrotheatre.com [https://synchrotheatre.com/]
Instagram: @synchrotheatre [https://www.instagram.com/synchrotheatre/]
Facebook: @synchrotheatre [https://www.facebook.com/synchrotheatre/]
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