Travel Far With The “Spaceman”
By Wes Hessel with D’Arcy Mies
[producingbody]’s production of “Spaceman” is an intriguing exploration of what a pioneer inter-planetary expedition could look like. For starters, on your way into the theater, you stop at the box office to put your shut-off phone in a Yondr pouch for the duration of the show, making for fuller immersion and a sense of being cut off from the rest of the world.
The performance space is dark, small, and intimate but not “tight”, with an immersive “brown noise” type of sound. A dias in the middle serves as the stage and seat of Astronaut Molly Jennis. The lead actress Ashley Neal is the only “real” character onstage – there is some “puppetry” (which is mostly moving objects as if they’re floating, not puppets per se); there are also voice messages and heard but unseen (by the audience) video clips.
It is set in a fictional but familiar not-too-distant future – the first manned trip to Mars with the goal being that Molly will pave the way to set up a colony. She will be alone for months, but it is revealed that if her “ratings” are high, then the sponsors will send her someone sooner (very “Hunger Games”) – modern capitalism as it currently intrudes into scientific research and the betterment of humanity…
This is a story of hope, grief, and mourning; of human determination and the fragility of the psyche. Anyone who is interested with outer space via NASA’s space program or science fiction will find some common tropes from movies (“2001”, “The Martian”) and familiar references from history, including astronaut Christa McAuliffe from the Challenger; friendship, NFL football, pop culture, and classical mythology allusions also come into play.
It is emotionally moving, and at some points rather intense, even upsetting, but not overly graphic. There was one older child in the audience who was well behaved, but it seemed that it was a bit much for them. It’s not a “light” show but has funny and sweet moments. I would definitely recommend it for anyone interested over the age of 12 – as Spock would say, “Fascinating.” But the last voyage with the “Spaceman” leaves June 13th, so beam on over to www.producingbody.com for tickets or more information.
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