*SPOILER ALERT* Don’t read this if you’re booked up to see the show and you don’t want to know some of the detail before you see it. To everyone else, in summary GET YOUR TICKETS QUICK!
1.30pm, Thursday 10th February 2011. I’m in a large auditorium, surrounded by children and a small herd of teachers. Unlimited Theatre’s Mission to Mars is ‘for anyone aged 7 and above’ & since I’ve never been above being 7 myself, I’m looking forward to watching it without the excuse of having children. If you’re a twitter follower of @untheatre you may already be caught up in the excitement of this show, having watched it build towards a heady lift-off thanks to their excellent 140 character snapshots. Having peeked in through the twitter-letterbox for many months, it’s time to see the wide-screen version. In front of us, we are looking straight into the guts of a pre-flight spaceship and beyond that, through a large hatch, out into space itself. It’s 2035 here, and I’m starting to believe….
The countdown launches an adventure for two crews of UNSA astronauts. Judging by the mix of accents amongst the crew, it’s a European space agency. Googling later from home, it’s clear that the crew are loosely based on fictional and real scientists, Some, like Dr Gail Iles (a real-life astronaut trainer who started her career in the army and graduated with a 2.1) have been involved in consulting on the show. Dr Vlatko Vedral, who appears briefly and comically, referring to gravity as gravy and being described by a crew member as a ‘donut’, is named after the eminent real life quantum physicist from Belgrade. In other words, the scientific veracity and substance is playfully served up so that we hardly realise we’re learning useful things, but by gads we are! The show also seeds ideas about science and those working in the field that can easily be expanded on when you get home.
Back in the room, we’ve passed the far side of the moon, and as we get further from the earth’s pull, we lose gravity and the cast begins to float around the stage thanks to the convincing aerial choreography of Layla Rosa. We see our home planet disappearing into the cosmos, and gradually get used to the looming vision of a red, rusting planet. When the ship reaches top speed, the crew is travelling at a leisurely 72,000 km per hour. That, they tell us, is like travelling from London to Australia in 3 minutes. 3 minutes! You wouldn’t even need to sit down.
When they arrive after 200 long days in space, Dr Gail Iles & Dr Stefan Losch will be the first humans on Mars. Watching the show, it’s easy to appreciate the thrill of the expedition, the real and immediate dangers, and the challenge of being confined to one space with one person for a very long time. It’s also a long time to be apart from family and friends, and Dr Gail misses her children. It’s a refreshing plot-line for us lasses in the audience, and genuinely great to see a role model in the scientific field, who is a cool, clever working Mum. Dr Stefan Losch is also smart, and responsible for most of the laughs generated by the audience.
The show uses a mix of live and & pre-recorded formats, to allow the crew to talk to mission control and to video-conference the 4-man mission that is following on a day behind them. The set is impressive (BBC sci-fi producers could learn a thing or two from Unlimited!). The story is plausible, believable and interesting. At times the pace seemed to slow enough for my mind to wander slightly, but in general I was right in the heart of this production; interested and amused by a stealthy stream of fact in fiction.
I grew up believing that one day some of us would go and live on the Moon, but the dystopian vision of space followed soon after. Films like Silent Running and Alien reinforced a creeping suspicion that space exploration in my lifetime had become ‘mission impossible’. As for hoping to become an astronaut… I never imagined it was even possible. I just wanted to be in the A Team to be honest.
Science is fascinating and creative, but it took me a very long time away from school to realise this. The triumph of this show is in its ability to make science seem both aspirational and achievable. It de-bunks the outdated idea of the boffin – too clever to communicate, too serious to have a laugh. One of the scientists leaves a video message, which paraphrased says, ‘we don’t promise it won’t be difficult to do things in your life, but the hardest part is deciding to do something…you know it will be hard, but decide and then do it anyway.’ Given the meteor-shower of socio-economic shit that is currently orbiting* many school children in this country, a bit of a pep talk is surely no bad thing? I left feeling very hopeful, that some of those children watching, might go home with a new spring in their step & a better sense of self-belief.
There are three shows left. Get in quick! Mission to Mars is at West Yorkshire Playhouse until Sat 12 February. All tickets £10, no discounts. Ticket Office: 0113 213 7700. www.wyp.org.uk
There is a post-show talk on Friday 11 Feb. It’s a chance to put your questions to scientists Dr Gail Iles and Dr Andy Newsam, and to ‘discuss what kind of knowledge and skills we might need in order to get into space, now and in the future!’ . It’s free with your ticket.
*not totally sure a meteor-shower could orbit school children. I’m not promising 100% factual correctness. My scientific advisor is currently asleep on the floor.
I went to the Saturday matinee and was really blown away by this play – and so were my kids (6 and 3). It avoids every kids theatre cliche (and oh god there are so many). It was magical and ambitious and it never talked down to its audience. Certainly, aged 3, a fair bit of it went over my son’s head, but he didn’t care, because there were ASTRONAUTS ON STAGE and they were GOING TO MARS and they were FLOATING IN SPACE and there were WOOSH noises. As for my 6 year old – already fascinated by the stars and astronomy – she was completely engrossed and sat in rapt attention for the whole 70 minutes.
There’s so much to praise – the incredible set design (reminiscent of Duncan Jones’s film Moon), the inventive use of video, the conversational, friendly tone of the script. Best of all, the actors felt like actual astronauts, not adults pretending to be kids in space suits and talking in patronising loud baby voices to the children (like so much kids theatre I’ve seen). It unashamedly sought to educate and it asked something of the kids.
Mission Accomplished!