Theatre: Defying GravityMar 15, 2001 at 8 p.m.

Defying Gravity by Jane Anderson. Out of the 1986 Challenger disaster, Jane Anderson weaves an artful exploration of our need to reach beyond ourselves and dare the universe. At the center of the play is the teacher selected for the mission as a civilian astronaut. Her aspirations are set against the perspective of her grieving daughter, the fantasies of an elderly couple who travel to Cape Kennedy in their Winnebago to watch the launch, the guilt of a mechanic on the NASA ground crew, his girl friend's fear of heights, and the artistic quest of the painter Claude Monet. In the words of one reviewer, this clever and uplifting fantasy "floats gracefully in the big blue yonder of the imagination."