True Story Of The Mercury 13 Brought To Old Globe Stage

Speaker 1: 00:00 This is KPBS mid day edition. The first all female space walk with canceled late last month because there weren't enough correctly sized to space suits prepared at the international space station. Despite the blunder, NASA's inclusion of women has improved dramatically over the years. About one third of NASA's active astronauts are women, but it wasn't always that way. A play at the old globe tells the true story of Jerry Cob, a woman who trained to become one of America's first astronauts despite outperforming her male counterparts in several categories, she never got the chance to go to space. KPBS arts reporter Neena Guerin spoke with Morgan Hallett, who plays Jerry Cobb in the production and Laurel Olsteen, the playwright at the old globe in Belvaux, a park. Laurel begins with how she first discovered who Jerry Cobb was. I actually was writing a short story about eight years ago about female astronaut idea. I had it for a short story and I thought I didn't know enough about female astronauts. Speaker 1: 01:06 So I googled first American female astronaut. Really? Absolutely assuming I would get Sally ride and Jerry Cop's name came up, born in 1931 and I thought who I had no idea, never heard of her. And it was really like, uh, I went down a rabbit hole because there was information about the mercury 13 never heard of any of this. And I was shocked that I'd never heard of it and none of my friends had either, which was, I felt like I have to write about this. Did you have an interest in space before that? Well, not specifically in Spain. I mean I think it's fascinating, but I don't think I was specifically like a space geek or anything. And now I know there are a lot of those, but I find it fascinating. A women's stories, untold women's stories do fascinate me. Speaker 2: 02:01 So Jerry was one of the mercury 13 a group of women who trained to be astronauts in the 1960s what about Jerry specifically made you decide that she would be the central character in the play? Speaker 1: 02:14 Well, Jerry was the first one of the women to be tested in that group and she passed more of the test, the second phase of the test, and that was going to go into the third phase of the test to test more women and then it was cancelled. So she was really the first that doctor loveless was testing and doctor loveless, who had tested the mercury seven men. He was very, um, it convinced that that women would make as astronauts, as good as men in some ways, there were better reasons to have women as astronauts because their weight for one definitely pilots. But Jerry was just fascinating to me because she was a little Oklahoma girl and loved flying and this, this is all she wanted in her life. And so you always look for, as a writer, you always look for a character who is stupendously Hungary and that's Jerry. She really wanted something so, so badly. So that makes it the stakes. High Speaker 2: 03:18 Oregon, you played Jerry Cobb in the play despite passing and excelling in a training program for astronauts in the 60s. Jerry never made it into orbit. What are some of the things that stood in her way? I think time honestly is is one of the major obstacles. Honestly. I mean you could point to so many things that they've gotten the way, but I think the time in which this took place at the time in which she was a woman, that you know, the time in which society was having this, this, this period I think was ultimately what kind of was the, the cap are here. It was unfortunate that that, you know, despite the tests and the drive and the, the abilities of these women, Jerry included, it just wasn't, it wasn't going to happen because of how, where society was at in terms of looking at women as equals to men and that they are just as capable of, of anything. Speaker 2: 04:09 And Morgan, what about Jerry was important for you to bring to the stage? Well, let's see. The play follows her from a very young age through her later life. So it covers a lot of her growing and her journey. I think following the growth of her, along with her love and passion for doing this. And the opportunity becoming a reality and, and then ultimately being taken away. I think, I think following her path in terms of growing as a woman, growing, you know, from, from girlhood on and that ambition and then following where that leads her when it doesn't quite go the way she wants it to. I think that that was sort of the path that that is most important. I mean, there's a lot about her and her family and her herself that are very important. But I think, I guess that's would be the focus. Maybe. Laurel, how close did you stay to Jerry story when you were writing the play? Speaker 1: 05:01 Well, I did quite a bit of research and so there's some things in the play that are directly, like, there was a congressional hearing, which is fascinating and you couldn't make up some of the stuff these guys said and what reporters said to, um, as far as the arc of her story, her life, it's, um, I mean, I certainly followed what I've found. She went through, I did take some dramatic license with certain things. Um, made up some characters, had some fun. There's humor in it too. It's a very theatrical way of looking at her life as well because it takes place in the isolation tank, which is the, uh, the, in the beginning of the play anyway, which is the test that she surpassed the men. And, and so that was a wonderful way inside her head, sort of that as a writer, it really freed me to go anywhere because I wrote scenes with her mother and her father. And of course there's not as much written about them, so I had to had to create those characters a bit more. Can you explain how Speaker 2: 06:09 this world of space translates on the stage? Well, the thing that's wonderful is that it is in the round. So I think that is just, it's the perfect theater for it. It's just the perfect venue because you're just there. The audiences inside the tank with her and in her dreams, in her imagination. So I think that would be my answer. I don't know. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think, I don't quite know how you would stage it. Not In the round, honestly. And I think, yeah, that sense of this surrounding her and kind of being on all sides of her is sort of space. Like I don't know. But yeah, there's something about that that I think translates really well and helps get a sense. And Morgan, what do you hope that people learn about Jerry story through the play? Or what do you hope they take away from it? Speaker 2: 07:03 Well, I mean, to echo what Laura said just earlier, I think first and foremost that they know who she is is an amazing, just knowing her story period, that she existed, that this happened, that this was an event that no one talks about. No one seems to know about. I didn't know about it. I had no idea who Jerry cop was, nor did anyone I knew. So I think first and foremost, that is very important. I think also, yes, it takes place in the past and the 60s and it was, you know, it was a long time ago, quote unquote. But I don't think this story is in, in any way unfamiliar to any women. Anyone can say, no, I'm not an astronaut. I know I'm not a pilot, but I remember an experience in my life where I've had hopes, dreams, ambitions, and, and something has gotten in the way that wasn't my doing that perhaps was because of where we are at in society and gender roles. And so I think, I don't, I don't think it will be hard for people, especially women, to relate to this even if they don't get in a plane. Speaker 1: 08:05 That was playwright Laurel Olsteen and actress Morgan Hallett speaking with KPBS arts reporter need a Garren. They promised her the moon runs through May 12th at the old globe in Bellboy a park Speaker 3: 08:18 [inaudible].