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"Before
Galileo turned his telescope towards its surface, people believed
the moon was a polished mirror, its dark scars and mysterious contours
reflections of our own mountains and seas. Much later in the twentieth-century
the Soviets launched a probe to circle the moon. When it returned
images of the hidden face of the moon, the one we can never see
from earth, we were shocked to learn that there existed a pounded
and scored face of the moon, wounded by countless meteors and storms
of celestial debris. For many years American scientists called this
the disfigured side of the moon. Perhaps this was because the features
that comprise the far side of the moon bear the names of Soviet
cosmonauts, poets, and inventors."
So
begins the epic story of Philippe, a man coping with the recent
loss of his mother; the estrangement of his only sibling, his younger
brother André; and the mysterious teachings the universe
holds for those brave enough to look up to the stars and ponder.
Time and place are secondary to Philippe's search for meaning in
the universe and his place in it.
The
competition between the Soviets and Americans during the space race,
the SETI program (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence), and
memories from childhood and adolescence act as touchstones for this
production dealing with the fundamental question, "Are we alone?"
Punctuated by Laurie
Anderson's
haunting score, the far side of the moon is a production
that transports the audience to other worlds on the steady wings
of Lepage's theatrical magic.
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