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Mary, Chris, Mars
Summerhall
August 3 -28, 1.30pm
by Gareth K Vile
Lonely, single astronauts Mary and Chris meet by chance in outer space and spend a surreal Christmas day together on Mars. This family-friendly show takes us on an absurdist's journey through what it means to spend time together in person, using intricate miniature sets pieces, physical theatre and puppetry, accompanied with beautifully melancholic live music. Part of the Korean Showcase 2022.
First of all, puppetry in the UK is often considered ideal for children, but less common in adult shows. Is that a similar situation in Korea?
It's quite a similar situation in Korea but our main audiences are still mostly adults as I don’t just target children when producing a show. Puppetry is not considered mainstream in the Korean theatre scene so it can be hard to make the puppet shows accessible for both adults and children unless you go to the Puppetry Festival. Personally, I don't think puppets are just for children, and I believe they can be interesting materials that can give adults inspiration and entertainment too.
When I shape my idea on visual expression, I imagine myself playing with children. When it comes to the text, I try to imagine I'm talking with my friends. Mary, Chris, Mars is the perfect show for a family as the children will enjoy the show giggling but also the parents can enjoy themselves at the same time.
-Could you tell me a little more about 'miniature set design', and how it works within the production?
I didn’t start my career with puppets and miniature sets. While exploring various video content during the pandemic, I became interested in “accessibility" and "sustainability". Since it was not easy to gather in person due to social distancing, I started to find ways to make plays that are available to produce, perform and be stored in one room. Most importantly it had to be performed online. This idea has been developed into the Trunk Theatre Project. The first thing I did was reduce the size of the sets. As the stage got smaller, I had to find actors who could fit in the miniature sets, and therefore it naturally became a puppet show!
Mary, Chris, Mars is our first in-person show after live streaming. Paradoxically, even though the size of the stage got smaller, the limits of imagination has expanded! It is difficult to fill a large, spacious theatre with sand or water, but it’s easily possible in a miniature set. The stories covered in Trunk Theatre Project has no boundaries or restrictions such as Space, deserts, cobwebs, sewers and so on. The most interesting moment is when an audience member asks, "WHERE are we going in your next show?"
-What was it about this particular story that made puppetry a good medium for it?
Since the story happens in outer space, I thought that puppetry would be suitable to express the movements of gravity on Mars. When the actors wear gloves on their hands, they become cute small astronauts. The actor's fingers become the legs and arms of the puppet. Puppets are just perfect for expressing special backgrounds and costumes, and the movements of the astronauts jumping on the surface of Mars. I also thought that it is interesting to point out the exact moments when an actor's hand transforms into a puppet. Moreover, the small spaceship puppets were able to travel freely in the vast space of the universe.
-Does your work sit within any particular tradition of storytelling and puppetry?
I don’t think our work seems to sit in any particular tradition of storytelling and puppetry. We aren’t trying to resist to sit in however. We just find something that interests us the most and go along with it!
The actors can choose whether to speak the lines as characters, as actors themselves, the puppets, or even the writer. In the way the puppets are being operated, we don’t hide from the audience that the puppets are just one of the props we are using for our play. It means that we don't force the audience to believe the puppets are "alive" or "real". Therefore, the actors point out the moments of being transformed themselves from the actors to the puppet player. I want the audience to enjoy these magical moments when the gloves become Mary and Chris.
-What kind of reactions has the work had from audiences so far?
We receive a lot of appreciation from audiences regarding the imagination of this work. They have thankfully recognised the efforts we put into the miniature stages and puppets that we make, and also admired the details and humour. Mary, Chris, Mars talks about the feelings we experienced during the pandemic, the feeling of isolation, loneliness, and the desire to meet people in person. People have said that the story of astronauts being isolated in a solo spaceship was a brilliant setting for expressing those feelings. It seems many people enjoyed the concept that Mary and Chris spend time together at a gas station no Mars on Christmas day. They have not only enjoyed listening to this touching story, but also watching the quirky and cute props. We are very excited to meet the audiences in Edinburgh soon, and to find out how they will feel about Mary, Chris, Mars.
-As the production is a multi-media event, where did you start in making the show? Did a script come first, or the design, or even the music?
Mary, Chris, Mars started by asking "WHERE is it going to happen?"
The first trip I went on since being isolated at home due to COVID-19 was a getaway to Jeju, a beautiful island in Korea. While I was on the plane I started to think about the sense of isolation caused by the pandemic, and I suddenly felt the need to open a window and get some fresh air. However, being on a plane of course, I couldn't do that. I realized that it was a similar feeling that people would have experienced during the pandemic.
Then I thought that SPACE could be the place where we could start from. When the spatial background was set, the characters came along. I thought it would be very cute if I could make the astronauts into the puppets. Puppets wear the face coverings, thick gloves, and space suits that could tell many stories.
I met my coworkers of Trunk Theatre Project with only the synopsis and the concept of the puppets in mind, and the imagination and ideas of the actors and staff made Mary, Chris, Mars what it is today.
I hope that the audience we will meet in Edinburgh will also be curious about WHERE the Trunk Theatre Project will go next.
