(Cover Photo: The CAST of "SPACE" by LM Feldman and Larissa Lury, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until February 23, 2025. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)


By Emily D. Baldwin

Special METRMAG Correspondent Reviewer  

# 774-242-6724     

“If you don’t know me yet, it’s only fair, because I definitely don’t know you. But this much is clear....you exist." 

               - ("Dr. Mae Jemison") / LM Feldman and Larissa Lury

Central Square Theater

Presents LM Feldman's & Larissa Lury's

"SPACE"

Written by LM Feldman

Directed by Larissa Lury

Created by LM Feldman and Larissa Lury

A Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production 

Cast Includes: Barlow Adamson* as “JFK, Anfuso, Lovelace, Testing Officials, NASA Rep,” Valencia Proctor as “Bessie Coleman, Irene Leverton,” Monica Risi as “Christina Hernández, Jerri Sloan,” Mitra Sharif as “Jasmin Moghbeli, Jean Hixson,” Catharine K. Slusar* as “Jackie Cochran, Gene Nora Stumbough,” MK Tuomanen* as “Sally Ride, Geraldyn Cobb,” Kaili Y. Turner* as “Mae Jemison, Jane Hart,” Hui Ying Wen as “Hazel Ying Lee, Wally Funk, Ivy Rieker.” 

Additional Creative Team: 

Scenic Designer - Qingan Zhang; Costume Designer - Charlotte Snow; Lighting Designer - John R. Malinowski; Properties Designer - Julia Wonkka; Sound Designer - Nate Tucker; Movement Director, Intimacy Coordinator - Lindsay Torrey; Vocal & Dialect Coach - Lauren Murphy Yeoman; Wardrobe Supervisor - Rebecca Straniere; Dramaturgy Consultant - Anne G. Morgan; Stage Manager - Liz Diamond*; Assistant Stage Manager - Athéna-Gwendolyn Baptiste*; Assistant Director - Jake Tolentino; Lighting Supervisor - Matthew Breton.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

Performances:

January 30, 2025 through February 23, 2025

(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)

CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139

TICKETS:

# 617-576-278

https://www.centralsquaretheater.org/shows-events/season-tickets/

BUY TICKETS

COVID 19 PROTOCOLS

Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.

(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)

Central Square Theater (CST) presents a new play that takes a long look at the contributions of women who have contributed to the final frontier in "SPACE." 

Co-created by playwright LM Feldman and the show’s director Larissa Lury, "SPACE" makes some interesting choices in the area of sound design, especially during the opening moments of the show which manages to reel in the audience. 

Much like the script, as the show unfolds in its complex manner on stage, there are impressive little details by both Feldman and Lury that are blended in with effects. 

An example of the above is when each time a character speaks into a handheld microphone, there was a static sound behind it. 

The CST set for "SPACE" is simple yet effective. 

However, because of the way the audience is positioned in the house, there are some noticeable blind spots. 

"SPACE" is a work of fiction based on historical events and public figures. 

Billed as “an audaciously theatrical & acrobatic shakedown that explodes human time,” the CST cast for "SPACE" has a difficult task but make every effort to successfully present each character portrayed as a complete human being and not just a footnote in history. 

(Photo: Monica Risi, Hui Ying Wen, Kaili Y. Turner, MK Tuomanen and Mitra Sharif in a scene from "SPACE" by LM Feldman and Larissa Lury, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until February 23, 2025. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)

"SPACE" is described as a show that “intertwines imagined scenes with Congressional transcripts, feats of endurance with the historical record, to interrogate the story of the Mercury 13 female pilots and their ancestors (Bessie Coleman, Hazel Ying Lee) and descendants (Mae Jemison, Sally Ride) – over the course of a national Civil Rights Space Race that has spanned our past century." 

Also, in the authors’ own words (paraphrased): 

"Content has been modified and/or fictionalized for dramatic purposes," but both Lury and Feldman have approached the subject matter from (direct quote) “a place of integrity, vulnerability, gratitude, investigation, and a fierce belief in asking the questions that can burst open the door to a better world.” 

Well…in many ways…mission accomplished. 

The show opens much like how it is scripted: a dark, blank space. 

Taking a beat from “Star Trek,” “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations” becomes examined in "SPACE" with a solid 8-member CST ensemble portraying pivotal historic figures which include: 

• Barlow Adamson as “JFK, Anfuso, Lovelace, Testing Officials, NASA Rep,” 
• Valencia Proctor as “Bessie Coleman, Irene Leverton,”
• Hui Ying Wen as “Hazel Ying Lee, Wally Funk, Ivy Rieker,”
• Monica Risi as “Christina Hernández, Jerri Sloan,” 
• Mitra Sharif as “Jasmin Moghbeli, Jean Hixson,” 
• Catharine K. Slusar as “Jackie Cochran, Gene Nora Stumbough,” 
• MK Tuomanen as “Sally Ride, Geraldyn Cobb,” and
• Kaili Y. Turner as “Mae Jemison, Jane Hart.” 

(Photo: MK Tuomanen and Hui Ying Wen in a scene from"SPACE" by LM Feldman and Larissa Lury, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until February 23, 2025. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)

The performances are all commendable:  

Barlow Adamson does a great job portraying all the male roles in the play. 

While not written specifically as a “standout role,” Adamson makes the most of it, giving a charming performance with great comedic timing and an ability to differentiate between his many characters. 

Valencia Proctor is incredible as Bessie Coleman and Irene Leverton, balancing sincerity and comedy very well. 

Proctor and Hui Ying Wen each deliver beautiful monologues in Act 2, with both actresses showing how much their historical characters impacted space travel as we know it today. 

Hui Ying Wen is a standout as Hazel Ying Lee, Wally Funk, and Ivy Reiker, doing an amazing job differentiating between her multiple characters and impressing with a physical embodiment of each. 

The above would serve as an amazing conclusion to the play…and yet, the above becomes completely undone by the show inexplicbably NOT ending. 

Monica Risi as Christina Hernández and Jerri Sloan is good but the actress is simply not given enough material in order to best shine like the others as the various plots in which Risi’s characters are involved never seem to go anywhere. 

Mitra Sharif does a wonderful job portraying Jasmin Moghbeli and Jean Hixson. 

In both acts, Sharif really seems like one of the more motivational characters and impresses showing us two different but resilient women who never gave up. 

(Photo: Mitra Sharif, Hui Ying Wen and Catharine K. Slusar in a scene from "SPACE" by LM Feldman and Larissa Lury, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until February 23, 2025. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)

As Jackie Cochran, Catharine K. Slusar has been given a very difficult task to accomplish, and yet pull it off she does. 

While Cochran is portrayed as a kind of antagonist to the other women in this piece, as conveyed by Slusar, we truly learn to understand her actions. 

Portraying Jackie Cochran and Gene Nora Stumbough in the show’s first act, Slusar must switch between the characters, which is very funny as the two characters are polar opposites. 

As Sally Ride and Geraldyn Cobb, MK Tuomanen enlivens the piece serving as the comedic presence and heart of the show.   

Kaili Y. Turner recites very impassioned monologues throughout the story and elevates in the roles of Mae Jemison and Jane Hart, also doing very well at playing the “mature figure” of the group. 

While Turner is the first to appear on stage, it gives an impression that the performer will also serve as our host and narrator, guiding us through the story. 

And yet, it is never abundantly made clear as to why she was chosen to serve as narrator. 

For those who may be unfamiliar with the story of Mercury 13, it would have been a bit better to have Mercury 13 at least mentioned once during this monologue, considering when the moment shifts that is what it directly transitions into. 

The Mercury 13 were thirteen American women who all (in 1959-60) took part in a research program run by a private contractor to NASA to test and screen the women for spaceflight. 

Similarly odd is as the first act concludes with Mercury 13 and (spoiler alert) NASA failing to include women in the astronaut program, it then opens in this weird space where it is present day, and yet historical figures from the past are present and can also interact with people who are still alive. 

The play purports to ask many questions, such as (paraphrasing): 

• How can marginalized groups navigate a system seemingly designed to keep them grounded?
• What can be learned from the (failed) social movements that preceded them? And;
• If given the chance to start the world over – to co-create the system anew – how might that be accomplished?

(Photo: The CAST of "SPACE" by LM Feldman and Larissa Lury, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until February 23, 2025. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)

Lighting used for the production is commendable, and yet still leaves the impression that it actually could have played even more of a bigger part in the overall storytelling. 

Since the saga of "SPACE" jumps around in time, moving from story to story, costuming is simplified to represent only that time we are in as the story progresses. 

To this end, costuming for each of the female characters is limited to a plain jumpsuit. 

Subsequently, they each put on accessories or layers to show or differentiate between the various characters. 

The actors all do a great job of presenting their different characters,  however the script presents some plot confusion and, as a result, still feels very much like a work in progress rather than a refined, polished, finished product. 

None of the minor plot confusion takes away from the overall approach taken by the performers, who collectively are all remarkable and very witty. 

The second act also decides to throw in a few plot points that while seeming important, ultimately end up going nowhere (i.e. as NASA is laying off 600 engineers, one of the characters didn’t know if she would lose her job - and yet, this stopped being important 10 minutes later and was never brought up again). 

All of the actors do a great job of balancing humor and seriousness and, overall, the play succeeds thanks to the combined efforts of the actors and design team. 

The script for "SPACE" feels like it is still a work in progress but, thanks to the collaborative efforts of Feldman and Lury, it has the potential to be great with a little more refinement to help showcase its many interesting ideas. 

As presented here on the CST stage, fitting in all these ideas just seems to have gotten in the way...with the show’s second act suffering most as a result. 

Without question, though, these are all stories that are important and need to be told with the authors deserving of high praise for the inventive approach taken.

"SPACE" boldly continues at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until February 23, 2025.

Coming up next at Central Square Theater will be Mfoniso Udofia's "HER PORTMANTEAU" beginning March  27, 2025.

For tickets and more information contact Central Square Theater at # 617-576-278 or visit https://www.centralsquaretheater.org/shows-events/season-tickets/

BUY TICKETS

Approximately two hours, 20 minutes with one intermission.

Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)

@MetrmagReviews

@Theatre_Critics

ABOUT THE SHOW

The thing about space is you have to contend with earth.

At the dawn of two different Space Races, aviators traverse time, generations, Newtonian physics, governments, political bodies — and human bodies — to reach beyond our star system for a radical re-start.

"SPACE" intertwines imagined scenes with Congressional transcripts, and feats of endurance with the historical record, to interrogate the story of the Mercury 13 female pilots and their ancestors — Bessie Coleman, Hazel Ying Lee — and descendants — Mae Jemison, Sally Ride — over the course of a national Civil Rights Space Race that has spanned our past century.

"SPACE" asks: 

What future are we headed towards? 

ABOUT CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER

CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER (CST) is dedicated to the exploration of social justice, science and sexual politics through theater; catalyzing the dynamic synergies sparked by the collaboration between The Nora and Underground Railway. Through award-winning productions, the Catalyst Collaborative@ MIT Science Theater Initiative, and youth development programming – CST creates theater where points of view are heard, perspective shifts, and change can happen. 

CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER 

450 Massachusetts Avenue  

Cambridge, MA. 02139 

# 617-576-9278 

centralsquaretheater.org