Highest Step a bold, entertaining venture

I’ve been immersed in watching the local theatre scene for so long, I’ve barely cast an eye towards Calgary. Like most I assumed it staged much of the same-same – bread and butter classics, overworked comedies and repetitive musicals.

But after seeing Ghost River Theatre’s exquisitely surreal production of The Highest Step in The World last Friday, I left the Arden Theatre itching to see more of their bold experiments.

Don’t get me wrong. There were a few flaws in this hallucinogenic landscape, but I’d rather spend time and resources into seeing risk-takers put forth dynamic new concepts than revisiting the stale-dated tried and true.

Like Edmonton’s Catalyst Theatre, Ghost River has a signature look. It is a startling combination of physical, visual and aural inventions that interlock, creating pizzazz and dramatic intensity.

To somehow call it “multi-media” doesn’t quite do it justice since it combines traditional acting with flying, motion graphics, television footage, video projections and voice-overs.

When it premiered in February 2010 as part of Alberta Theatre Projects’ 24th Annual Enbridge PlayRites Festival of New Canadian Plays, it was an instant hit with Calgary’s reviewers. The 75-minute production scooped up several Betty Mitchell Awards including Outstanding Production of a Play.

The company website markets this touring show as “grappling with the nature of risk and the leap of faith that we all make in our lives.”

At its core is the true-to-life story of Capt. Joseph Kittinger, who in 1960, jumped from a high-altitude helium balloon 20 miles above the Earth’s surface. Kittinger was so high in the stratosphere he saw the curvature of the Earth, and the stars in their actual red and blue colours.

In this one-man show, actor David van Belle touchingly reveals that Kittinger was more than a Texas daredevil testing a high-altitude dual-stage parachute. He was a man putting his life on the line doing the right thing because someone needed to do it.

Alongside this main story of risk is a brief recap of Vesna Vulovic, a Serbian flight attendant who cheated death. Vulovic survived a bomb explosion on the plane she was flying by falling 33,000 feet into a mountain snow bank. She set a world record for surviving a fall without a parachute.

The third story is a modern day revamp of Daedalus and Icarus from Greek mythology, and their escape off the Island of Crete wearing a pair of wings.

In addition to acting out these four parts, van Belle is eloquent, both physically and verbally, as a narrator laying out the history, explaining how the body reacts to stress and posing philosophical/psychological debates. At several points in the show, he completely mesmerizes by flying through the air, flipping and twirling, and even crashing a character.

The mind-blowing special effects in this production are more than eye candy. Not only are the effects spellbinding, but they also propel the plot and character forward.

In one hypnotic video projection, a bare-bones skeleton morphs into a military uniform that gently unfolds and colours over Kittinger’s white space suit. You have to see it to believe it.

It’s a heady technical production thanks to the creative team of set, light and costume designer Amy Farrow, projections and sound designer Ben Chaisson, motion graphics designer Court Brimsmead and flying director Adrian Young.

Director Eric Rose has pulled this incredible high-tech documentary fantasy together in a way that is brilliant and fun, almost in a childlike way.

But despite its clever presentation, the production has a few weaknesses. Of the four characters, Kittinger has the most interesting, inspiring story. It is also the longest and gives van Belle time to flesh out his character – a man who was smart, stubborn and funny.

The opposite happened with Vesna’s story. It’s difficult for a male actor to take on a female role without creating a cartoonish figure. Van Belle is a sensitive actor, however some of Vesna’s movements and vocal inflections appeared decidedly unfeminine and too masculine. But these are small quibbles.

While The Highest Step in the World ponders the nature of risk, it was also risky for Ghost River Theatre to produce such an innovative show. But it succeeded in leading the exploration of new terrain in delightful mind-bending ways. Bring it on.