Satellites by Erin Breznitsky is a visually stunning new play that takes an interesting look at marriage from the perspective of distance - both physical distance and years apart from one another. The play recently made its debut at Premiere Stages at Kean University where it is being presented through July 30, 2023.
When you enter the theater and are waiting for the play to begin you see a rather barren stage - just a brick seating wall on one side and a chair with a lamp on the other. Behind everything is three huge projection screens showing stars in outer space slowly moving you through the cosmos. You get a sense the screens will play a large role in the production and they certainly do.
The play opens with Dr. Katherine Sparks picking up her husband, the astronaut Captain Mike Turner, from NASA. Seven years ago, Mike went on a solo space mission that was supposed to last two weeks, but a major problem arose that left NASA unable to communicate with the ship or even locate it. He rationed off his food and managed to survive for two months on board before returning to Earth, having no memory of how he got home.
Unfortunately, what seemed like two months to him was actually seven years. NASA initially searched for him, but eventually had to call off the search and he was pronounced dead. When his wife gets to NASA, she has no idea what she will find. Nobody does. Nobody can even begin to explain what happened or how he has returned home.
Their first meeting together is awkward. Katherine stumbles with what to say and then tries to do the initial greeting a second time, but stumbles even worse. They are both distant and cautious. You expect to see them hug each other, but there is no physical contact at all. They just struggle with small talk, subliminally realizing that they have been away from each other as long as the two of them had been together.
Mike asks, “How are the kids?”
“I think you should just meet them — I mean, see them,” she replies.
It feels like they are meeting their spouse for the first time.
The play is expertly directed by John J. Wooten and stars Terrell Wheeler as Captain Mike Turner and Ellyn Heald as Dr. Katherine Sparks. Both actors are outstanding, but the play is just as driven (or more) by the three projection screens. They do much more than just provide a setting. The screens allow the play to deftly move from one time period to another, showing flashbacks from their lives and Katherine’s life without him.
When Mike’s ship was first lost, Katherine began talking on a walkie talkie from Radio Shack outside with the hope that the signals would eventually reach him. The transitions from one time period to another are separated with the sound of white noise, representing these signals going off to space. The sounds are too muffled to make out, though, leaving the audience to wonder if the signals ever reached their destination.
We are soon transported back in time to the day they first met each other in a library. Mike was having trouble finding a book he needed for his job. Katherine asks what he does for a living.
“I’m an astronaut,” he replies, gently showcasing the NASA logo across his shirt.
“Nobody’s an astronaut,” said Katherine. “That’s just something people say to get you to go home with them.”
“We’re like ten miles from Houston,” he says.
“It’s the perfect cover,” she laughs.
Katherine is on her way to becoming a scientist to study climate change. While Mike is interested in taking her out sometime, she is focused on getting her career going. Mike says that he believes if it is meant to happen, they will meet again one day.
The projection screens are able to easily identify time periods as before he left and the current day with the simple colors in the house. It’s a wonderfully neat trick that is executed well. We see flashbacks to many of the most important moments of their lives like Katherine being pregnant with their first child; the day Mike was leaving for his mission; the day they ran into each other again at a beach party; watching an eclipse together (the day the possibility of marriage was mentioned); the day NASA ended the search for him; and Mike alone on his ship.
Katherine jokes with Mike on the day he was leaving for his mission. She says she plans on meeting someone new the moment he’s gone. “I figure if you’re out of the atmosphere, it doesn’t count!” But also makes him promise that he will come home.
The projection screens are at their best when portraying an ocean scene. For fans of Star Trek, this is as close as you may ever come to being on a holodeck yourself. It is simply a stunning display with the sounds of the waves roaring through the theatre.
In the current day, Mike has been sleeping downstairs and usually outside, instead of with his wife. He has trouble sleeping and has had a few recurring dreams. Mike is determined to find answers as to what went wrong with his mission and how he got back. He’s far more focused on that then he is in repairing his marriage. In his eyes, Katherine has had a good life without him and doesn’t need him. Most of all, Mike struggles with the way her dreams and goals for life have changed in the last seven years while he is the same person as he always was.
Katherine says she never gave up on her dreams, she adapted because she was forced to adapt. She’s spent her life trying to save the planet, but now is forced to try to save her marriage.
“You chose the distance,” she says. “You chose the couch. You chose to go up there.”
In a summer that is seeing record heat waves across the planet, the play’s angle of climate change is very topical. It also serves as a reminder that sometimes trying to save a marriage can be just as daunting as trying to save the world.
Satellites is a wonderful play that relies on strong performances from its two actors. The science fiction aspect adds a nice dimension to the play, but this is really a drama about a couple seeking to find themselves and trying to determine whether their world will revolve around the other once again. It’s a very unique twist to a common storyline.
One of the pure joys of the summer is seeing what Premiere Stages will present as their season opening play. They never disappoint. If you've never been to this theater, it is a very intimate space and they always utilize the space to its full potential with performances by excellent actors. If you have never seen a show there, this is a great one to see.
This play is highly recommended!
Satellites has a running time is 95 minutes, with no intermission. The play has performances Thursdays through Sundays until July 30, 2023. Premiere Stages is located on the Kean University campus at 1000 Morris Avenue in Union, New Jersey. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.
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