←Recommendations of THE ROCKET MEN

A fascinating, theatrically innovative exploration of the complexities of history and the sometimes darker sides of technological advancements. Crystal’s play looks at a side of history few people know about and tackles it in a compelling way – truly worthy of a stage. I can’t wait to see a production of this play!

An utterly original look at a largely forgotten moment in history. Crystal expertly weaves together threads of science, war, compassion, and regret. Highly recommended.

I was drawn to The Rocket Men because of my fascination with America's manned spaceflight program, and stayed for its astonishing theatrics. Crystal's dialogue is razor-sharp and her stage directions project an engrossing spectacle that effortlessly pulls the audience through a complex history of political maneuvers and technical derring-do. The climax is shattering--and sobering.

This play has great breadth and depth. Crystal's writing is skillful as always. The work leaves me thinking about masculinity, capitalism, labor, visionariness. It's black and white and also vivid at the same time.

I recommended The Rocket Men to the NNPN Showcase of New Plays for 2024, and intend to produce it in the fall of 2025. Crystal has beautifully captured a moment in history and presents it to us through an evocative lens. Former nazis building rockets in Alabama is enough to draw us in, but women playing men in this environment makes it all the more compelling. Constance Macy

An excellent and engrossing play that wraps up a fascinating history lesson in a propulsive character-rooted drama. An expertly-crafted, highly-theatrical page-turner, Crystal’s play reads like a contemporary thriller set mid-century. She takes a fascinating story about America’s ambitious space program and tackles compelling themes of assimilation, atonement for the past, the meaning of being American, and the challenges of valuing our heroes despite troublesome pasts. Most importantly, Crystal keeps the play entertaining while also finding the wider social themes. This is what theater is about.

All technology is military technology when under modern power, yet the complexities of human need and desire always challenge the ethics. This is the interrogative core of Crystal Skillman’s 'The Rocketmen', a historical drama on the pardoned German SS scientists who enabled the US to reach the moon. In content and stage direction, its actors being female or non-binary, is haunted by the exploited and forgotten sharing audiences' space with the ghosts of history who themselves stand on ghosts. In this we both observe and partake asking what we condone and condemn, are we alike or unalike?

A dynamic, passionate historical drama, THE ROCKET MEN is an illuminating ride into a complex, fascinating and difficult chapter in world and US history. Skillman's compelling drama is epic in scope.

In "The Rocket Men," Crystal Skillman adds layers of personal and historical intrigue to a little known historical event. What might be a simple slice of America's Space Race is complicated by the history these scientists carry with them, America's own crimes, and Skillman's inspired use of female-identifying and non-binary actors. Though the background grows epic and twisted as the play progresses, what's left is a deeply personal story about technology, politics, and, most importantly, humanity.

Undoubtedly, "The Rocket Men" is a paramount achievement in historical drama. Skillman deftly intertwines the gripping tale of the space race with the deeply unsettling cover-up of atrocities by the American government. This synthesis of historical threads weaves a rich tapestry that spans the expanse of time, resulting in a truly multifaceted narrative. Skillman masterfully conveys the dichotomy of American achievement juxtaposed against the nation's darker moments. This duality emerges as a powerful metaphor that lends depth and resonance to the play's overarching themes.