Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. will bring an opportunity for Harvard residents to learn more about America’s first woman astronaut, part of the five-person crew of space shuttle Challenger that blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in June 1983. Historical performer Sheryl Faye will become Sally Ride in a Zoom program presented by Warner Free Lecture. At the end of the performance she will answer questions as herself.
Faye has said online that she sees it as her “duty and privilege to keep history alive,” which she does through the stories of important historical women. “As I look at the women I portray, I collect clues from their personal stories as to what led and guided them into becoming and achieving all they could be. These connections fascinate me, and I am fortunate that I can inspire others to explore that within themselves.”
Sheryl Faye portrays Sally Ride.(Courtesy photo)
In a phone conversation, Faye said she was “blown away by all that Sally Ride did in her short life.” Among other things, she made a key discovery while serving on the commission investigating the 1986 explosion of space shuttle Challenger, 73 seconds after takeoff. She was also a physicist and professor, and she wrote seven science books for kids. “She did so much,” Faye reiterated.
Faye has been performing one-woman presentations for 18 years. Currently her impressive repertoire consists of 10 historical women, any one of whom she can perform in person. They range from Susan B. Anthony to Helen Keller to Eleanor Roosevelt to her newest, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. While she said they inspired her for different reasons, “All were strong women who did something atypical in some way—for their age, gender, or profession.” Online, she has said, “They followed their dreams and passion and they inspire me every day. I want to inspire others with their stories and messages.”
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Faye recorded all her performances, and they are available online. Her performances are multimedia, with music, sound, costumes, voice-overs, and videos adding to her monologue. She said one of the most rewarding comments about her work is when people say they felt like they met the real Anne Frank or Amelia Earhart, or whoever she was at the performance they attended.
She has versions for children as well as adults for many of the women. She acknowledged that children seem to have shorter attention spans these days, so she was pleased when a teacher told her after one performance, “We’re jealous of you because you kept their attention for 40 minutes that we can’t.”
Faye graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting. She worked for a Chicago theater company that had actors in Boston, and when that company dissolved, she started her own. She uses some scripts from the defunct Chicago company, but most she has written herself. She said she does a lot of reading when creating the script for a new characterization and has to pick and choose what she wants as her focus. When possible, she goes to where they lived, which is the best, she said. In some cases there is a documentary available to watch, where she can pick up on the voice and mannerisms of the real woman she will recreate. In cases where nothing is available—Abigail Adams for instance—she said she has to go with her “best guess.”
Every performance opens with the subject as an adult woman, goes back to her childhood, and returns to the adult. “I want to show the influences of childhood experiences,” she said. In looking at Faye’s website and reading about her childhood, it is clear why she thinks one’s childhood is important. Faye’s own adult profession can certainly be traced to her girlhood. “Ever since I could walk I knew I wanted to be an actress.” She said as a girl she wrote and performed in her own productions and turned her deck into a summer theater and the bathroom into a box office. “My mother always bought a subscription and got eaten by the bugs as she cheered me on in the front row (well, the only row).”
Faye recently traveled to Florida to give a series of performances. She said the audiences were very appreciative; she felt they were anxious for entertainment and had a real need to connect to others. Many Harvard residents feel the same these days, and, even through Zoom, Faye’s performance of Sally Ride will foster connections. It will also fulfill one of Faye’s stated goals: “I think it’s important to remind us all that anything is possible in life, to make the most of your life as these women did.”
For more information on Faye go to http://sherylfayepresents.com. Registration is required and will be available at www.eventbrite.com/o/warner-free-lecture-26830746659.
