The Rocket Men
by Crystal Skillman

What does it mean to be an American?

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 – and explore this very question.

The play reveals the inner workings of Operation Paperclip, a secret government program after World War II that focused on missile and rocket technology, through the lens of new recruit Heinz-Hermann Koelle, a lesser-known young German rocketeer.

The story focuses on Koelle’s mentee-mentor relationship with engineering team leader Wernher von Braun as they set their sights on the Moon and beyond.

As the play counts down to the launch of Apollo 11, Koelle is befriended by a Jewish engineer who is hell-bent on exposing the truth: the Germans’ technology is based on V-2 rockets built by slave labor and is more tied to Koelle’s world than he can imagine.

Told with theatrical invention, gripping urgency and dark humor, Crystal Skillman’s new play confronts the uneasy bargain between ambition and accountability.

The Rocket Men launches a conversation about power, complicity, and the stories we choose to celebrate.

This sharp play theatrically re-examines America’s scientific history through a cast of six female-identifying actors playing radical, powerful rocket men.

This casting reflects an examination of history.

A reimagining.

Note: It is also possible to expand the ensemble from six to seven.