By Kshanika Argent

One Small Step, a lightening-quick, 60 minute show packed with wit and child-like innovation that made waves in Edinburgh UK last year graced audiences in Jaffna and Colombo this month with performances to a full house at the St. John’s College Hall Jaffna on March 26 and the Punchi Borella Theatre, Colombo on March 28 and 30. Written by David Hastings, directed by Toby Hulse and starring Robin Hemmings and Oliver Millingham, One Small Step is a production of the Oxford Playhouse which has toured the region, making a special stop-off in Sri Lanka with the help of the British Council Colombo. The fast-paced, family show revolves around post-second world war race to put a man on the moon after the launch of Sputnik I in 1957. The show comprise of just Hemmings and Millingham who between them, play dozens of roles including heads of state, space men, scientists and ordinary folk caught up in 60‘s race to the moon and was innovative, quirky and highly entertaining in transforming household items like buckets, lamps and cardboard boxes into the famous Apollo, Gemini and Sputnik capsules. Daily Mirror online caught up with the cast behind the scenes for a quick chat about the show and their experience performing in Sri Lanka.

DMO: How did you get involved in the play and how involved were you in deciding which props to use?

Robin: Our input came about in how the story was going to be told, and together with the director we decided on what types of household items would be use. I hadn’t even left drama school when I was approached for this role so I was thrilled to have a job, and yeah, we’re very lucky boys.

Oliver: I came in as an extra for an actor that couldn’t do the international tour. It’s wonderful when you get approached by a director that asks you whether you’d like to travel with your friend doing what you love best. Initially, the play’s setting was based in an upstairs attic back in England. It’s everyday home use stuff, like buckets and cabinets, nothing was created specially for it. We also wanted to tell the story in the best possible way so that’s our reason behind selecting props like a bucket, you’d find buckets at home but also we had just two weeks of rehearsal and so if we had a little more time, we could put together this show out of an office or bedroom or another more select set. But we wanted this show to be as smooth as possible and that’s why there was no real setting as such.

DMO: What was it like performing in Jaffna?

Robin: It was 45 degrees and because of the heat we were a little more laid back and taking water breaks. It was challenging, the hall had a great echo so we had to slow things down quite a bit, but it was very exciting and incredible.

Oliver: It was the first piece of theatre in the area in 6-7 years and one of the first opportunities for many people in the area to just socialise so during the performance we could here people murmuring and whispering; explaining the play to each other or just greeting each other, it would’ve been the first time in a long time that they had seen friends or family in a setting like that so we’re humbled that we could be a part of such an occasion, of bringing people together. And our director’s aim was to make this production one that the entire family could appreciate, from grandparent to grandchild and I think we achieved that here.


 
DMO: Any plans of touring the region or Sri Lanka again?

Robin: We’d love to come back on a longer break, and do more shows and get a chance to do some exploring. This tour was a bit tight so we didn’t really get a chance to travel at leisure or catch any of the local theatre but yes, for sure we’d be up for it.