Coming to a Theatre Near the Moon: Space Girl from Imago Theatre
By: Michael Martini
In the face of climate catastrophe, moon colonization refers to the possibility of extremely privileged elites opting to inhabit space, especially the moon, while leaving the rest of us in the dust. A new society of billionaires and their brats camp out on the craters, while the rest of us make do - or don’t - on an increasingly uninhabitable planet. Rather than sailing the seas to plant flags and expand their empire, this time around, the ultra-wealthy sail the stars.
Frances Končan is an Anishinaabe-Slovenian playwright originally from Couchiching First Nation, who’s taken a big dip into the subject of moon colonization with her full-length work Space Girl. In Končan’s universe, Earth is destined for a fatal blow via meteor, of which the lunar aristocracy is well-aware. Unfortunately, the pitiful population of planet Earth doesn’t have a heads-up. Oh well, too bad for them. Lyra, our titular space girl, is a moon-based influencer on her way to a billion followers. Talk about star power. Due to unforeseen events with action-movie trimmings, Lyra finds herself plummeted to Earth, exclusively aware of the planet’s encroaching fate, and drained of her influencer status thanks to - you guessed it - a phone with zero battery. Submoral of the story: always carry a charger. A journey ensues (half-Wizard of Oz, half-Aramageddon) as Lyra pulls up her bootstraps to find her milky way home. She’s off to befriend some IRL Earthlings, find a much-needed charger so she can check her follower count, and - oh yeah - save a certain little blue dot along the way? Caught between intragalactic colonizers and disadvantaged terrestrials on the verge of collapse, Lyra must decide how to use her power. Millennial humour ensues as Končan shines a postcolonial light on climate change and capitalism.
Space Girl premiered at Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg in Spring 2023, directed by Imago Theatre’s own artistic director Krista Jackson. Over a three-day period, the production was then filmed by Ice River Films and adapted to cinema with added visuals. Now, between mainstage productions, Imago brings Space Girl to the Montreal screen, playing the hybrid film-theatre work at Concordia’s VA114 Cinema March 23 and 24 2024, with Q&As both evenings. Think star-studded Shakespeare productions brought to the screen so as many people as possible can experience their magic. Like Imago’s recent digital presentation of Good Things to Do, the decision to screen Space Girl emerged from a desire to nourish its audience in between live productions. The result is a rare access to theatre from outside of Montreal as Imago overrides geographic challenges to amplify Indigenous voices. Fasten your asteroid belt, and enjoy the show!
Watch their Behind-the-Scenes documentary Below!
Prairie Theatre Exchange’s Behind-the-Scenes Documentary.
Deep End by Subarachnoid Space is access from freemusicarchive.org, and licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.