AGAWAM – The spirit of America’s first female astronaut, Sally Ride, came to the Agawam Public Library on Aug. 5 in the form of historical-actress Sheryl Faye. The one-woman show was the final event of the library’s 2019 summer reading program, “A Universe of Stories.”

“We ended with a bang,” said Wendy McAnanama, who works in adult programs at the library. 

The adult summer reading program officially ended Aug. 9 and was sponsored by the Agawam Center Library Association, MA Cultural Council, MA Library System, Boston Bruins, MA Board of Library Commissioners and the Collaborative Summer Library Program.

About 20 people gathered in the Judith Clini Community Room at the library to watch Faye perform. Her show was a seamless mix of monologues, costume changes, projected images from Ride’s life, and audio clips with which the actress interacted.

During Faye’s portrayal of Ride, titled “Astronaut and Scientist,” the audience follows Ride from her childhood, through her space career, and her work as an activist promoting math and science programs for young girls.

The overwhelming message of the show was that Ride consistently proved people wrong when they said she couldn’t do something because of her gender. Afterward, she answered questions about Ride from the audience.

The event at the library was geared towards adults, though Faye said that she does a version of the show when she performs at schools in which she invites students to come up and do some simple science experiments with her.

Faye performed as Anne Frank at the library in March. Through her company, Sheryl Faye Presents Historical Women, she performs at libraries, schools, historical societies, and a variety of other settings around New England and the country.

Faye has a catalog of eight characters that she portrays, Ride, Frank, Helen Keller, Clara Barton, Abigail Adams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Faye will be retiring her Wilder character in June 2020 to make room for a new character, suffragette Susan B. Anthony. The addition of the character coincides with the 100th anniversary of the women’s right to vote. 

“Eight is a lot,” Faye said of the characters she portrays. “Nine would be too much.”

Faye, who performs over 200 shows a year, has been acting in historical one-woman shows for 16 years. She began with a company in Chicago, but when they shut down, Faye created her own company. Roughly half of her characters are from when she worked in Chicago and were written by Joan Schaeffer. The others were written by Faye.

More information can be found at www.sherylfaye.com.