Review – Space Encounters
Two astronauts are asleep aboard a space ship, tracing the source of a mysterious alien signal (one the adult pundits will recognise from Close Encounters of a Third Kind). Once there, they discover a lone extra-terrestrial who’s been monitoring earth communications (especially TV) and working in solitude on his magnum opus (a little tune he can’t quite get right, so he plays it over and over, hence the transmission that has been intercepted on earth). The humans are excited to find another intelligence in the universe, but the alien is weary of society and simply wants to be left in peace.
I sat through plenty of children’s stage productions in my school years, and I could only wish that the majority of them had been as engaging as Space Encounters. If some of the language might be a little tough for the younger kiddies – the word ‘belligerent’ was dropped at some point, that even I have to look that one up from time to time – the plot is easy enough to follow and even the youngest members of the audience seemed attentive and entertained. Little touches from the production team helped that along – the retro-futuristic costumes and sets are attractive, sturdy and impressively-good quality. It might not seem like a big deal, but if your attention span is measured in minutes it’s nice to have something pretty to look as your mind wanders. Likewise, the live piano accompaniment helped set the tone for the action and played a small role in the story.
Space Encounters is a delightful little musical, entertaining and thoughtful, with enough going on at all levels to keep the family entertained. The performances were appropriately melodramatic and the audience interaction was fun and engaging. As stated, the song-writing could have been a little more accessible, but otherwise this is a solid little production.
