Marquette University Theatre Department

Feb. 16-26
Defying Gravity
Evan P. and Marion Helfaer Theatre, 525 N. 13th St.

Director Phylis Ravel makes inspired, timely performances with students. Jane Anderson's 1997 play about teacher Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger disaster is an uplifting reverie on "the dreams of ordinary people swept up in decisions not in their control," Ravel says. "But was the tragedy preventable? Reading the research, I tend to think—yes, there was enough information to cancel the flight; and no, there was too much riding on the shuttle's success and NASA's future."