The Lightest Element - by Stella Feehily (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

'Fascinating... a mind-expanding bio-drama... Feehily captures well the way that while looking at the stars, earthbound envies and career-battles can prevail... stars gleam in the firmament, an eclipse takes place and our grasp of the universe expands as a determined woman pushes at the horizons'

--Telegraph

'An entertaining tribute to a trailblazing astronomer expected to make the tea'

--Guardian

'An electrifying true story'

--The Times

'A starry drama... gripping... Feehily raises great questions about the impact of prejudice and personal interest on progress... richly enjoyable'

--Financial Times

'Riveting... Feehily elegantly draws the casually sexist landscape that [her female characters] are navigating... fascinating and enraging... has a lasting slow burn'

--Observer

'Fascinating and meticulously researched'

--Time Out

'Exhilarating... a humdinger... It's grippingly done, with a gloriously comic, cruelly enraging sequence'

--TheatreCat

About the Author

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).