“Greatness doesn’t come without gravity.”
A NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK ROLLING WORLD PREMIERE
With Phoenix Theatre (IN) and Angels Theatre (NE)
In The Rocket Men, six women step into the roles of former Nazi scientists who became the backbone of the NASA team that sent America to the moon. These men fled Germany after World War II, remaking their lives in the American South and trading one allegiance for another—building the machinery of the space race while carrying the weight of their past.
Told with theatrical invention and gripping urgency, Crystal Skillman’s new play confronts the uneasy bargain between ambition and accountability. Moving between past and present, it unravels the buried truths behind a celebrated chapter of U.S. history and forces us to reckon with the costs of progress.
A National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, The Rocket Men launches a conversation about power, complicity, and the stories we choose to celebrate.
MEET THE WRITER
Crystal Skillman is a Award-winning dramatist who writes for theater, comics, & audio. Upcoming: OPEN Off-Bway at WP Theatre July 8th-27th 2025. THE ROCKET MEN (2025-2026 NNPN Rolling World Premiere), RAIN AND ZOE SAVE THE WORLD (Upcoming American Premiere, London: 2022). Mid-Atlantic Arts Grant, Kilroys, NY Innovative Theatre Award, Earth Matters on Stage Prize, Bway World Winner, MUT Prize, EST/Sloan, Offie Nomination, O'Neill, BAPF, McKnight Finalist.
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Rachel May, a New Englander now based in Atlanta, is the co-founder and Producing Artistic Director of Synchronicity Theatre, where she has directed over a dozen productions, including the ensemble-created Women + War and Kia Corthron’s Breath, Boom. She also leads the ongoing Playmaking for Girls workshops with young women in youth centers. Her work has earned praise from playwrights Naomi Wallace and José Rivera for its emotional depth, political sensitivity, and artistry.
Beyond Synchronicity, May has directed for leading Atlanta theatres and regional stages, earning Creative Loafing’s “Best Director” honor in 2002 and a prestigious NEA/TCG Career Development Fellowship. A magna cum laude graduate of Drew University, she previously produced award-winning PBS documentaries on the lives of teen girls and continues to teach, mentor, and inspire the next generation of theatre artists.
Cast + Crew
Laura Edwards Boston
Heinz-Hermann Koelle
Amelia Fisher
Wernher Von Braun
Imani Joseph
William A. Mrazek
Gillian Rabin
Friend / Sol
Suzanne Roush
Arthur Rudolph
Vallea E. Woodbury
Helmut Hoelzer
Maya Kelch
SWING: Girl / Sol, Mrazek
Irene Polk
SWING: Koelle, Hoelzer
Tierney Breedlove
Properties Design
Elisabeth Cooper
Lighting Designer
Cloud Cruz
Stage Manager
Claudia Jenkins Martinez
Sound Design
Eveling Olivares
Properties Apprentice
Tommy Priester
Master Electrician
Amanda Sachtleben
Projections Design
Alisha Simmons
Assistant Stage Manager / Intern
Hollis Smith
Costume Designer
Gabrielle Stephenson Trice
Scenic Designer
Monty Wilson
Technical Director