By Terrence J. Nolan, Director of When Tang Met Laika, Denver Center Theatre Company

Playwright Alan Bennett has said that “theatre is often at its most absorbing when it’s school.” The same holds true for making theatre. One of the great joys of directing is the opportunity it affords to continually enter new worlds – to be surrounded by teachers who generously share their knowledge and experience. I have discovered that I am my best as a director not when I tell people what to do, but when I listen for it is then that I learn. And there is much I have had to learn to direct the world premiere production of Rogelio Martinez’ WHEN TANG MET LAIKA.

When Tang Met Laika tells the story of the US and Russia’s cooperative efforts to build the International Space Station. It is also a fantasia, jumping from space to earth and back again. As you might have heard, there is a dog — and several other surprises.

NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless in space. The cast of WHEN TANG MET LAIKA had the opportunity to meet Bruce in rehearsal.

We have been fortunate to have a team of teachers helping us find our way: Dramaturg Doug Langworthy provided extensive research so that we better understood the political and historical context in which this story is told; Russian Language Consultant Maria Pakulova and Dialect Coach Kathy Maes made sure we understood what we are saying and how it should be said; Video Designer Charlie Miller, with tremendous assistance from NASA, helped us visualize life in space; and astronaut Bruce McCandless shared with us what it is like to be an astronaut and, most importantly, put us in touch with the authentic. In addition, we have had an extraordinary team of stage managers and artisans and technicians and assistants (our own Mission Control) to ensure that we can successfully launch this amazing new play. The Denver Center knows how to make school fun.

I live in Philadelphia where I am the Artistic Director of the Arden Theatre Company. My wife and two boys, Liam and Flynn, came to visit during rehearsals. (While Amy was here, she helped train Paul, our dog. Another teacher.) Liam and Flynn are 10 and 6, so a plane ride to Denver and staying in a new place was a grand adventure. We saw the fireworks on the 16^th Street Mall on New Year’s Eve. We ate at Sam’s (the boys’ favorite). One beautiful day we went up into the Rockies. But the highlight of the trip was a visit to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science where Liam and Flynn discovered Space Odyssey.

Space Odyssey is an exhibition that celebrates space exploration. It is When Tang Met Laika brought to life. There is a display of the International Space Station where you can dock the space shuttle. There is a room in which kids can get dressed up as astronauts and sit behind the control panels of the shuttle. Overlooking the exhibition is an astronaut wearing a replica of the Manned Maneuvering Unit that Bruce McCandless wore when he made the first, untethered space walk. How amazing to look up at that astronaut and say to my boys, “I met this man.” How amazing to see my sons sit behind the shuttle controls — dressed in blue NASA jumpsuits — and “pilot” the shuttle (though the jargon Flynn used was more Star Wars than NASA). How amazing to be in school with my family here in Denver.

Terry's son, Flynn, at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

I was Flynn’s age when the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon. My parents woke us up so that we could watch the live coverage on TV. I remember gathering together late that night, dressed in our pajamas, watching the black and white images of Neil Armstrong taking those first steps. There is a mystery to space, a sense of possibility. Rogelio Martinez’s play has awakened in me a renewed fascination for this mystery.

I thank Rogelio for this great adventure — and all the teachers who have made it seem possible.

Popularity: 27% [?]