(UNION, NJ) -- Kean Theatre Conservatory presents They Promised Her the Moon from April 4-12, 2025. The play by Laurel Ollstein takes place in 1961 when 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.
Performances take place Friday, April 4 at 7:30pm; Saturday, April 5 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm; Sunday, April 6 at 2:00pm; Wednesday, April 9 at 7:30pm; Thursday, April 10 at 5:30pm (with Q & A); Friday, April 11 at 10:00am (OST with Q & A); Friday, April 11 at 7:30pm; and Saturday, April 12 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm.
Tickets range from $10-$15 and are available for purchase online. Performances take place in the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center (1000 Morris Avenue) in Union, New Jersey. The production is directed by Susan Speidel and is recommended for ages 13 and up due to some adult language.
Laurel Ollstein is a playwright, writer, director and educator whose plays most recently have been produced at The Old Globe and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Other plays produced across the county include They Promised Her the Moon; Laughter, Hope and a Sock in the Eye; CHEESE; Esther’s Moustache; Unhappily Married in Valencia; OPA! the Musical; Dorothy Parker Is in the Bath; Blackwell’s Corner; The Dark Ages; Bias Cut; and Showing Our Age. She is also currently writing the second season of a podcast radio drama for New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco.
Laurel has been commissioned to write new works by The Getty Villa, About…Productions, Virginia Avenue Project, New Jersey Repertory Company, Playwrights’ Arena, and Clark Library, and she has developed plays with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, The Actors’ Gang, Cornerstone Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, The Road Theatre Company, The Barrow Group, Miranda Theatre Company, and Playwrights’ Center among others. Several of her television and film projects have been optioned for development.
Her awards include grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and California Arts Council, as well as Ovation, Garland, and LA Weekly Theater Awards. She wrote the first draft of They Promised Her the Moon at The University of Oklahoma, where she was a Faith Broome Playwright-in-Residence. They Promised Her the Moon is also recipient of a 2018 Social Impact Theatre Grant from The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation.
Laurel also directs playwriting programs, provides writing and arts education in schools and for mature adults, and creates plays on social justice themes. She serves as adjunct faculty at California Institute of the Arts, UCLA, Loyola Marymount University, University of Redlands, and Otis College of Art and Design.
At the Kean Theatre Conservatory, a shared passion for live performance unites a diverse group of students and an outstanding faculty. This vibrant community of theatre artists is dedicated to crafting compelling stories to share with audiences, showcasing Kean students who are turning their talent into their life's work.
