 
Stepping up to their success!
by Nilma Dole
Seriously, the international
reviews do no justice to the raw zest and enthusiasm put forward by
Oliver Millingham and Robin Hemmings in their dramatically powerful
space performance in the play ‘One Small Step’. Exhilarating to witness
the dynamic duo in action in Sri Lanka at the Punchi theatre, ‘One Small
Step’ was written by David Hastings, directed by Toby Hulse and produced
by Oxford Playhouse.
Tasting immense success at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2008 to
enthralled audiences, the two extraordinary young actors who have had
exposure to acting in one form or another. The dynamic duo weave through
Russians and Americans (including the exception of a German) in the
space race to do the first things in space and on the moon. A series of
41 characters are played from the little American lego man to even the
bark of the first dog in space Laika, were portrayed effectively and
humorously.
“We connected with many in the middle-aged group as they had
recollections and memories of how it was like on the day of July 20,
1969 when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon” said Robin Hemmings.
 Using a series of props where some they brought from the UK, the
others tools were makeshift cardboard boxes and paper rolls painted and
taped in fantastic fashion to prove that you don’t need a good set to
make your point.Even the pillows depicting the Soviet headwear is enough
to even create a laugh.
Says Robin Hemmings about the multitude of accents portrayed in the
production, “We used YouTube didn’t even know how to pronounce in a
Russian accent but after some time, it came naturally to us”. The
different pronunciations of American accents are eloquent in
highlighting the gripping emotion of being beaten by the Russians while
they on the other hand, had their reservations.
Even the way they mettle through the characters of the Mercury Seven
astronauts, Scott Carpenter, Alan Bartlett Shepard, Virgil Ivan (Gus)
Grissom, John Herschel Glenn, Walter Marty (Wally) Schirra, Leroy Gordon
Cooper, Donald Kent (Deke) Slayton is pretty cool. The audience couldn’t
help but laugh and also be infused with plenty of astronomical
information enough to make a child burp with space gas.
 In ‘One Small Step’, the Russian notes, “We do not publicise
everything as the Americans, we do not talk about our failures but only
speak after a successful operation.” It is a good thing the actors will
be performing in America in September, as they need all the luck they
can get. More so if they were performing in Russia. Even though the
space mania has melted a bit these days with the war on terrorism, we do
know that NASA and the Roscosmos are secretly busy at work.
Speaking to the Sunday Observer magazine was Manager, Program
Delivery Ranmali Mirchandani who said, “We needed to bring it down to
Sri Lanka because it was simple, original and precise and it had
everything we wanted in a play.” Robin Hemmings and Oliver Milingham
proved that with a good script and good acting, any production can be a
success.
So while enjoying ‘One Small Step’ we ask ourselves, was the space
fight between the Soviets and the Yankees really a misleading melodrama
in leading us to believe that we really went to space and landed on the
moon or was it just a hoax? It’s good to laugh though!
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