FLYING, FALLING, FALLEN:
A Review of Ghost River Theatre Production’s
“The Highest Step in the World”

by Simone Keiran

Five separate stories are woven into cohesive and compelling drama in David van Belle and Eric Rose’s Ghost River Theatre production, The Highest Step in the World.

Captain Joseph Kittinger

The main story centers around a very literal interpretation of the question, “What do you do when you can’t go back down the same way you came up?” — by examining what it may have taken from American air force pilot and war veteran, Captain Joseph Kittinger, to jump off the Excelsior III flight balloon on August 16, 1960, from 102,800 feet (31.3 kms) in the upper stratosphere, and free-fall for four and a half minutes, reaching supersonic speeds of 614 mph (988 km/h) — a feat which has not yet been equaled.

The play provides a frank discussion of the ‘hostile skies’ which fliers face in the upper stratosphere; the effects on the physical body; the risks which test pilots and astronauts have taken; and the tolls they have paid in injuries, experience and wisdom. It describes how technology evolved and where it fell short. The opening scene is a gripping narrative which re-creates the last moments of the Space Shuttle Challenger, and correlates it Kittinger’s experimental parachute feat.

The Highest Step in the World also segues into:

  • the story of Vesna Vulovic, the Serbian former flight attendant who plummeted 10,160 metres (33,330 ft) without a parachute when a bomb went off inside her plane;
  • a personal anecdote about the end of a marriage.

Through these accounts, the play the play’s creators, Eric Rose and David van Belle, bring its audience inward to contemplate what it took from Kittinger to make that jump in terms of:

  • the figurative understanding of ‘spine’ or strength and the willingness to risk one’s life;
  • ‘nerves of steel’ or courage;
  • and the ‘heart’ or trust in one’s purpose, team, and possibly fate itself.

Through that process of introspection, it is only a matter of one step for each audience member to face their own need for spine, nerves and heart, or to look frankly at physical risks, supportive people, and the consequences of actions. Such a very small step ….

The Highest Step in the World brings all of these characters, Kittinger, Vulovic, both Icarus and Daedalus to life through David van Belle’s tour de force solo acting performance.

One nit about van Belle’s acting is the over-exaggeration and, in fact, the overuse of the Russian accent. Since, with the way that the script is laid out, there has to be a very clear demarcation between the characters — especially in the scenes set between Daedalus and Icarus, whom van Belle portrays as a beloved, but dissolute and foul-mouthed modern teenager — it is easy to understand why he interprets the vocal inflections in this way. But Greeks and Serbians don’t sound Russian, not even in the oddest Cold War Era daydreams! In the case of Daedalus, it’s a bit over-the-top — strange and a stretch, but not eye-watering since it’s a myth. In the case of Voluvic, however: Serbia — as part of the former Yugoslavian Republic — parted ways with the Soviet Union back during the times of Stalin, so a Russian accent is a blunder, no matter how anti-nationalistic and globally inclusive Voluvic’s personal views were.

Setting that aside, however, in addition to playing multiple characters with vastly different personalities, van Belle serves as the narrator — charging up tension with that data stream of facts and unifying all the disparate elements and bringing them home with personal anecdotes and reflections. He manages this because he’s got one helluva technical team backing him up.

The Highest Step in the World utilizes, both, stunts and multimedia projections as special effects. The set design and wardrobe appear to be a simple, blank, white canvas upon which 16mm video clips of archival footage and light effects may be projected, a ersatz tabula rasa to provide a symbolic Greek chorus of imagery in order to reflect the zeitgeist of the era. Footage of seagulls soaring, moonscapes, the earth from its upper atmosphere, even Cold War Era tract housing roll in the background. Some of the most riveting images are the projections of xrays, air force uniforms and cosmonaut suits directly onto van Belle. Audio tracks include the famous countdown to lift-off, newscasts about Sputnik, even the rumbling of the Challenger’s massive engines. Program notes for The Highest Step in the World mention that Anton de Groot runs about 500 sound, lighting and video cues through the 70-minute show, that Ben Chaisson and Court Brinsmead set up and ran the projectors, and Ami Farrow sourced the footage. The stagecraft also includes a Wonder of the Ancient World setting for the scenes of Daedalus and Icarus in captivity, hidden — evocatively — behind a ‘veil.’

A flying rig, designed by Adrian Young and Larissa Yanchak, allows for van Belle to perform some strenuous acrobatic stunts. He simulates every permutation of flight and falling from floating within a gravity-free environment, leaping through a low-gravity environment like Neil Armstrong on the surface of the moon, free-falling toward earth and floating with a parachute. It’s a vigorous and energetic performance.

Ghost River specializes in original work. They research and create the plays from scratch, workshop them with a creative and resourceful production team, and refine the spoken language with a good dramaturg, Vicki Stroich. The results pay off with hypnotic storytelling, interesting visuals and a longstanding sense of satisfaction when the show is finished.

The Highest Step in the World is showing at:

PUMPHOUSE THEATRE
2140 Pumphouse Avenue, SW; Calgary
(403) 263-0079

8:00 pm nightly, and 2:00 pm Saturday Matinees
until October 29th, 2011.

Go see it!

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