Bears in Space is an incredibly delightful mixture of storytelling, acting, music, and visuals.
The story is presented by a man known only as the Storykeeper (Cameron Macaulay) and his three dimwitted sons (Jack Gleeson, Aaron Heffernan, and Eoghan Quinn). The story that unfolds centers on two cosmonaut bears, Officers Volyova (Aaron Heffernan) and Bhourgash (Eoghan Quinn), who have just awoken from a 700-year cryogenically frozen sleep. Their Captain—Captian Lazara–is ill and needs to stay frozen ship…which will be impossible since their ship is rapidly losing energy. Bhourgash must pretend to be Captain and descend to the nearest planet, Metrotopia, in order to get energy for their ship. Unfortunately, he is met by the evil ruler, Premier Niko (Jack Gleeson) and his henchman, Gorax (Aaron Heffernan). Will he escape? Will he be able to help his friends? Will the Captain survive? All of these questions are answered (and several hilarious minor characters are encountered) in the mere 70-odd minute romp.
Bears in Space is performed by a talented ensemble of actors. Not only do they cohesively create a wonderful piece of theater together, but they also were all involved in the production-side of the show. Bears in Space is a Collapsing Horse production—which was co-founded by Jack Gleeson. The puppets were all designed by Aaron Heffernan (who, for the record, did a masterful job with their design and when he was puppeting on stage, using a variety of accents and imbuing each puppet with minute emotions). The music and sound design was created by Cameron Macaulay, and the play itself was written by Eoghan Quinn. Needless to say, this is one talented group of young men.
Funny and touching, Bears in Space is a fantastic show with a simple, universal message: being there for your friends is one of the most important lessons you can learn.
Bears in Space runs through October 2 at 59E59.
Photo Credit: Idil Sukan
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