Leaving Planet Earth

by Catrin Evans and Lewis Hetherington

10th – 24th August 2013

Part of Edinburgh International Festival. In association with University of Edinburgh Centre for Design Informatics/ Centre for Speckled Computing and Edinburgh Napier University Institute for Creative Industries.

A site-responsive promenade performance in Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (audience gathering point Edinburgh International Conference Centre).

AWARDS

Nominated for a Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland in the Best Technical Presentation category

Old Earth has nothing left for us, and so it is time for a new beginning.

Cross galaxies, traverse light years and find yourself in a world where you can be the centre of your own universe. Welcome to New Earth. Never look back.

Vela, the revered and celebrated architect of this new society, has recently been avoiding her public duties in favour of visiting the Old Earth Museum and the company of its Security Guard. As the final migrants arrive, she is becoming increasingly obsessed by her memories, and questions are growing about her sanity.

Award-winning theatre company Grid Iron fuses live interactive performance with innovative digital and new media technologies.

Leaving Planet Earth is a site-responsive promenade production on an epic scale.

Tracing the story of humanity’s first migration into space, it asks fundamental questions about our connection to this planet. Should we leave this world, and if so, who will endure and at what cost?

This production was dedicated to the memory of our friend and colleague, Ross Ramsay.

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What The Press Said

“I’m sure that I will remember Grid Iron’s Leaving Planet Earth long after I’ve forgotten other shows I’ve seen at this year’s festival. Not necessarily because I loved the show itself so much, but because of the coach journey and the extraordinary climbing centre at Ratho.”

Lyn Gardner, Theatreblog, Guardian

“The design elements – from the video and sound work to the reassuringly naff costumes and the shallow eclecticism of the Old Earth Museum – are a delight… this piece succeeds through a combination of its clever choice of venue, impressive theatrical logistics and an occasionally absorbing narrative.”

Sunday Herald

“Its great strength, in a series of scenes taking place on different levels of the vertiginous climbing centre, is that it forces us to consider the bleak prospect of what it would mean to lose our home planet… the play forces us to confront the big picture. It’s not about our opinions on the individual issues such as how to generate power or keep the water supply going, it’s about how much we value the whole planet. This is no journey into the future, but a journey into now.”

Scotland on Sunday

“An ambitious project, beautifully lit with a pulsing, hair raising sound design.”

A Young Theatre

“Ambitious science fiction drama Leaving Planet Earth is a wonderful concept that is meticulously executed… as you work your way around the rooms, you can’t help but be impressed by the stage management involved.”

The Stage

“The brave new world scenario being played our will be familiar to sci-fi fans. And the production looks the part. Nowhere more so than at the finale where the audience gather in the rock climbing quarry to hear Vela’s rallying cry regarding ‘final closure’ beamed onto the rock face, with a booming techno soundtrack also in full effect. It is here that you really do feel the pull of leaving planet earth… the show wears its epicness on its sleeve.”

STV Entertainment

“As an audience member, the effect of the site is truly impressive. The gentle pulse of the coloured lights and music that fill the glass building becomes increasingly eerie as darkness draws in throughout the performance. Lights beamed up against the quarry walls are visible from within the centre and the dramatic final scene, staged in a vast chamber, is an unnerving sensory overload… This is a science-fiction production in every sense.”

Wired

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Video

View the trailer for Leaving Planet Earth here…

Cast

Emilia:
Molly Taylor

Hal:
Chris Nayak

Harper:
Juliana Yazbeck

John:
Finlay Welsh

Jost:
Peter Wiedmann

Meeka:
Anna–Maria Nabirye

Saad:
Robert Jack

Vela:
Lucianne McEvoy

Boy [Audio]:
Angus and Joseph Pinsky

Sinead [Film]:
Muireann Kelly

Gatekeeper Voiceover:
Melody Grove

GFO Voiceover & Film:
Kenny Blyth

GFO Journalist [Film]:
James Blake

GFO Scientists [Film]:
DK Arvind, Janek Mann, Jon Oberlander, Arno Verhoeven

Production Team

Writers/Directors:
Catrin Evans & Lewis Hetherington

Producer:
Judith Doherty

Set & Video Designers:
Becs Andrews & Dave Lynch

Lighting Designer:
Paul Claydon

Composer & Sound Designer:
Philip Pinsky

Costume Designer:
Kat Smith

Production Manager:
Fiona Fraser

Finance Manager:
Deborah Crewe

Technical Manager:
Simon Hayes

Stage Manager:
Mickey Graham

Stage Management:
Lee Davis, Kara Jackson & Anne Page

Head of Sound:
Roy Fairhead

Sound Engineer:
Guy Coletta

Head of Stage:
JJ McGregor

Production Technicians:
Kieran Diamond & Dave Cooper

Set Design Assistant:
Lia Waber

Costume Design Assistant:
Dannie Gallagher

Costume Cutter & Maker:
Sara Hill

Costume Maker:
Felicity Edmond

Set Build:
B Scenic

GFO Film-makers:
James Blake, Kirsten MacLeod & Blair Stewart

Programme Design:
Emma Quinn, Beata Zemanek & Ann Davies

Production Photography:
Janeanne Gilchrist

Publicity Image:
Douglas Chalmers

Transmedia Designer:
Beata Zemanek

Transmedia Assistants:
Omar Barco, Douglas Chalmers, Robert Doyle, Natalie King, Chris Pincombe, Stuart Smith & Martha Schofield

For University of Edinburgh Centre for Design Informatics/ Centre for Speckled Computing/ Edinburgh College of Art:
Professor Jon Oberlander DK Arvind, Janek Mann, Michael Walters, Andrew Bates, Arno Verhoeven & Mark Kobine

For Edinburgh Napier University:
James Blake, Malcolm Innes, Ian Lambert, Andrew O’Dowd, Nigel Smith & Euan Winton