Satellites

Taken by Pioneer 10: the first images of Jupiter.

Written and Performed by Natalie Songer
Direction/dramaturgy by Nicholas Barton-Wines
Produced by Karen Goddard
Sound design/composition by Calum Paterson
Supported by Arts Council England, Colchester Arts Centre, Eastern Angles, and Playwrights East.

Development at Colchester Arts Centre: December 2018
Scratch Performance at The Garage, Norwich: 4th October 2019
Preview Performance at Colchester Arts Centre: 10th December 2019
Touring: Spring 2021

In the year 2,002,018, the space craft Pioneer 10 arrives at the giant star of Aldebaran. In 1945, Tom and his brother Cor lose each other in war. Tom became part of one of humanity’s greatest successes- the space programme; while Cor became a number in humanity’s greatest failure- the concentration camp system. Generations later, their great-niece goes on a journey to reunite them.

In an epic true story of family heritage, disappearance and space travel written between the farmland of North Holland and the deserts of Arizona, Satellites asks questions about who and what we leave behind, and how we can begin to measure the immeasurable.

Photo by Dave Guttridge

Satellites is a new play devised by Natalie Songer. The first stage of research was supported by Arts Council England, and took place in Arizona, California, East Anglia, Germany and the Netherlands. Further funding has been received by Arts Council England for a scratch and preview taking place in October and December respectively. These next steps are supported by Norwich’s The Garage and Colchester Arts Centre.

As director/dramaturg, my role is to collaborate with Natalie to bring to life four rich stories for audiences. Our aim is to use object and sound manipulation to bring the worlds alive from the archived material from the University of Arizona. This follows a period of structured R&D, facilitating dramaturgy, and consolidating months of research across continents into a storyboard. We are now ready to share our work publicly, and events will be shared on our social media.