Mesa College Theatre Company strongly delivered on the opening night of “Defying Gravity,” a story that explored the struggle between progress and sacrifice via the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
On Oct. 4, the Mesa College Theatre Company debuted their rendition of “Defying Gravity,” a production exploring heavy-hitting topics surrounding the Challenger disaster. The production explores the importance of interpersonal understanding, the struggle between progress and sacrifice, grief and depression. The dramatic comedy centers around the complex relationship of a young girl whose mother, the first teacher to become an astronaut, would die in the Challenger disaster as she retells the events leading up to the fatal explosion.
The lights dimmed and the nearly full audience of the Apolliad Theatre quickly quieted in anticipation of the coming production. George Yé, the assistant director of Dramatic Arts at Mesa College, opened the night with a few words of appreciation for the audience before mentioning the Company’s fundraising goals. The Company intends to raise $15,000 to start a small endowment to provide scholarships to Mesa College theater students. The goal only has $5,000 left and a link to donate can be found here. Yé then closed his opening remarks by sharing that Mesa College Theater Company is on a trend of growth in members alongside the college seeing consistent growth in the number of theater majors.
Defying Gravity follows three intertwining narratives each offering a new angle into problems that arise in everyday relationships. The production hits hard with dramatic monologues and sensitive moments throughout but isn’t without its healthy dose of comedic relief. The story is told in present tense with past tense interjections which provide a refreshing viewpoint from which to receive the narrative.
The initial framing for the narrative is provided by a mystic Monet unbound by the laws of time and space. In framing the narrative, Monet also sets the tone for the production as a soft slow burn that keeps you ensnared in the narrative as you seek to uncover the dynamic between sacrifice and progress.
The small cast of well-written characters along with a relatively short runtime lends to the impact of the narrative by creating a decisive message while still leaving room for interpretation. While the narrative firmly grabs the audience, admittedly it felt a bit lacking in terms of emotional depth. The scenes where pivotal emotional moments took place felt as if they could have been extended to provide a stronger foundation for the message to stand on.
The cast masterfully portrays their characters as they appear very natural in the roles they are playing. Notably the way in which the characters interact with each other was smooth and clearly well practiced. The production overall was very polished with no technical or noticeable cast member errors which was in line with Mesa Theatre Company productions previously attended such as the recent rendition of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest.’
Because of the broad reach of the message being delivered, it can be easily applied to just about anyone’s life. The authentic nature of the production and the proximity to the issues and dialogue really serve to enhance the experience in a way that is hard to come by now. Because of this, the production was moving in a way that much of modern media seemingly failed to replicate in recent years, making it a must-see production.
The remaining dates for the shows are Oct. 11 and 12 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 13 at 2 p.m.
