Icarus

121329 original

It is unnerving that galactic travel could well become the feeding ground of reality television. In the same way we currently seek to weaponise space, how we transmit the journeys of cosmonauts to our living rooms is the genuine objective of certain organisations today. Mars One is a bold example: a Dutch foundation that has conceptualised a human colony on Mars between the years 2023-2025 (depending on which source you credit).

Square Peg Theatre have sculpted this idea into a launchpad for their new show, developed as a conversation on discovery, sacrifice and relationships. Katie Robinson, Michael White and Dominic Myerscough comprise a pensive three-hander that tells two stories: one set aboard the rocket blasted off towards Mars with its team ready to make base, another back on earth a while prior, as Robinson’s Anna prepares to sacrifice her whole life in pursuit of a revolutionary dream.

With a hand from The Lowry, Harrogate Theatre, The Unity and Slung Low, this piece has the makings of a great meditation on our infinite lust for innovation. The scenes set in space have been meticulously configured, as the actors mime their zero-gravity environment. Back on earth, Anna weighs up the decision as public pressure mounts. Once she confirms her place on board the craft, there’s no going back. But it's all too narrow, methodical, plodding and limp. It fails to talk earnestly of the relationships we would genuinely have to eschew to take part in such a mission, nor the doom should it all fail. Its titular reference point drifts off into space, instead of crash-landing on our laps with a thump.