FIVE DEGREES ABOVE POLARIS by Karen Howes
With Emanuele Secci, Jacopo Costantini, Giorgia Valenti, Rosa Enginoli, Davide Borella, Julian Abelskamp
Directed by Laura Caparrotti

Set in 1847, “Five Degrees Above Polaris” is based on the true story of American astronomer, Maria Mitchell. In this comedic play, Miss Mitchell travels to Rome to confront the Vatican’s official astronomer, Father Francesco De Vico, when he is awarded a Gold Medal by the King of Denmark and credited with the discovery of a comet that was initially sighted by Maria.  Upon arriving at the Vatican Observatory with her Quaker cousin, Maria finds herself in the midst of an Italian civil uprising against Austrian rule. While trying to make her mark as a respected scientist, she is swept into a world of uppity Harvard professors, romantic Italian revolutionaries, and the dogma of Catholicism. But Maria is dead-set on getting the medal she rightly deserves, steering her into unusual situations and discoveries that define her place in the world.

Karen Howes is an award-winning playwright and lyricist whose works have been produced nationwide. Winner of the Bennett Prize for Best Comedy and the Mach33 New Science-Driven Play Award, she writes with heart, humor, and intellect. Her plays have been finalists for over two dozen national competitions, including the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the Woodward/Newman Constellation Prize.

Organizers: Kairos Italy Theater, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU and the Calandra Institute for Italian American Studies. The series is supported in part by UNICO-Broohaven.