Interplanetary theater

Young Chang

Kelly O’Reilly held planet Earth on Monday during a theatrical

production staged by the Mad Science Theater at the Orange County

Fair.

She was spaced 15 million imaginary miles from Venus, held by

another young audience participant. To the 8-year-old’s right was

Mars.

Select children still seated in their seats got to hold things

like Jupiter and Uranus in a pattern that was proportionately

accurate to how things really are in outer space.

‘’We make science fun,’’ said Annemieke Wade, one of two actors in

the 30-minute show.

Mad Science Productions creates this theatrical world between the

World Famous Sourdough Bread stand and a prominent and yellow hot dog

stand at Centennial Way, at the fair. The medium-sized theater houses

an elaborate stage decorated as a launch pad for a show titled ‘’Mad

Mission to Mars 2025.’’

Mad Science Productions, a part of the Canada-based educational

group called the Mad Science Group, rotates between three shows every

touring season, but only ‘’Mad Mission’’ will run through the

duration of the fair.

‘’It’s all about sparking the imagination and learning,’’ said

Jean-Sebastien Drouin, technical coordinator for the show.

He added that ‘’Mad Mission’’ was originally created with NASA and

for use at the Kennedy Space Center.

The story follows a professor named Pruvitt and an

astronaut-in-training named Crash during an unexpected astronaut

training session. Crash’s funny and lighthearted ways counter the

seriousness of her professor. Automated cast mates, including

“robonaut” WD-4D, help to teach lessons on gravity, propulsion,

space, Newton’s Laws of Motion, micro-gravity, the solar system and

orbits.

The set is sterile and silver to convey the mood of a real-life

launch pad. Two rocket chairs and an inflatable sun complete the

scene.

Wade, 26, auditioned for the part of Crash. She is an astronaut

accompanying Professor Pruvitt, played by 26-year-old Cameron

Johnston. The two put on a comedic show filled with innocent jokes

and over-the-top humor for the sake of teaching young audiences a

thing or two about science.

‘’It’s fun for the 5-12 year olds, but also for adults as well,’’

Wade said. ‘’We slip a couple family-oriented adult jokes in there.’’

Kelly said learning about science through watching a play of sorts

-- at the Orange County Fair, of all places -- will make the

experience more fun.

‘’Science might help me in the future because I’m going to be a

veterinarian,’’ she said.