A woman wearing a spacesuit. Two cards hover on her back. One displays an old airplane and another one a space capsule with the moon on both sides
opens April 4
DATE

Fri, Apr 4, 2025

- Sat, Apr 12, 2025

TIME

Varies

VENUE

Bauer Boucher Theatre Center

CATEGORY

Theater

PRICE

$10 - 15

They Promised Her the Moon

A Kean Theatre Conservatory production

By Lauren Ollstein
Directed by Susan Speidel

In 1961, the first American woman to test for space flight stepped into an isolation tank for a record-breaking nine hours, outlasting all of the men in NASA’s emerging Mercury 7 program. Jerrie Cobb continued to score higher than every male pilot, on every test she was given, but was never allowed to go into orbit and fulfill her dream of flying to the moon. Her pursuit of space flight was met with opposition at every step of the way, from powerful social and political forces to personal and family obstacles that conspired to keep a skilled and record-holding pilot grounded. 

With vivid theatricality, Laurel Ollstein’s They Promised Her the Moon, shares this unknown true story – from Cobb’s earliest memories of learning to fly as a child in Oklahoma, to her testimony at a Congressional hearing about the under-the-radar, all-female Mercury 13 program. Through immersive storytelling, the play presents a stunning look at issues that still work to keep women grounded, and how one early group of space pioneers persisted so that American female astronauts could escape Earth’s gravity two decades later. 

Recommended Audience

Recommended for ages 13 and up due to some adult language.

Performance Dates

April 4 at 7:30 pm
April 5 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm
April 6 at 2:00 pm
April 9 at 7:30 pm
April 10 at 5:30 pm (with Q & A)
April 11 at 10:00 am (OST with Q & A)
April 11 at 7:30 pm
April 12 at 2:00 pm 

They Promised Her the Moon

A Kean Theatre Conservatory production

DATE

Fri, Apr 4, 2025

- Sat, Apr 12, 2025

TIME

Varies

VENUE

Bauer Boucher Theatre Center

CATEGORY

Theater

PRICE

$10 - 15

By Lauren Ollstein
Directed by Susan Speidel

In 1961, the first American woman to test for space flight stepped into an isolation tank for a record-breaking nine hours, outlasting all of the men in NASA’s emerging Mercury 7 program. Jerrie Cobb continued to score higher than every male pilot, on every test she was given, but was never allowed to go into orbit and fulfill her dream of flying to the moon. Her pursuit of space flight was met with opposition at every step of the way, from powerful social and political forces to personal and family obstacles that conspired to keep a skilled and record-holding pilot grounded. 

With vivid theatricality, Laurel Ollstein’s They Promised Her the Moon, shares this unknown true story – from Cobb’s earliest memories of learning to fly as a child in Oklahoma, to her testimony at a Congressional hearing about the under-the-radar, all-female Mercury 13 program. Through immersive storytelling, the play presents a stunning look at issues that still work to keep women grounded, and how one early group of space pioneers persisted so that American female astronauts could escape Earth’s gravity two decades later. 

Recommended Audience

Recommended for ages 13 and up due to some adult language.

Performance Dates

April 4 at 7:30 pm
April 5 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm
April 6 at 2:00 pm
April 9 at 7:30 pm
April 10 at 5:30 pm (with Q & A)
April 11 at 10:00 am (OST with Q & A)
April 11 at 7:30 pm
April 12 at 2:00 pm 

Venue