When our purpose is destined to fail, how to sustain hope?
How we want to impact our world?
Hello, World
A new work by Lowen Jeffery about four satellites visit Earth with a farewell message for all of humanity before their eternal expedition.
under the guidance of Prof. Malika Oyetimein
Nimoy Theatre, 2025
Therefore, in the developing workshops, I worked closely with Lowen and attempted to answer the following questions:
"How to be a human, when
we are feeling powerless,
occupied by life,
overwhelmed by politics,
buried in taxes, laundry,
unachievable wants and desires,
Post-colonialism, capitalism,
Wars, poverty, global warming,
GPAs, artist journal,
jobs that don’t pay,
fear for the future,
When we’re facing the sum of all
past mistakes and
We don’t have an answer and
All the previous attempts seem
to be meaningless?
Do we give in,
or do we carry on with hope?"
The play's question was almost a prophecy of its development. For hundreds of times, Lowen would pull me aside and ask whether there was meaning in the play. "Would it be too dumb? Does it have depth?" And I would reassure him that what I saw in the story has been there and never went out. As the most observant and intelligent satellite, CHANDRA observed and recognized the uselessness of human attempts in less than 0.00000008% of the universe and pondered it objectively, persuading all satellites that there is no hope in humans nor their products. When all satellites are defeated, JASON-3, the youngest 8-year-old kiddo, suddenly thinks about his favourite thing in the world--the toadfish under the sea. Even though they're ugly and small and powerless, JASON-3 knows his love for them doesn't get worn out by these facts.
Performance by Apurv Khanna (Intersat), Sophie Raye (Hubble), Anika Warrier (Chandra), and Joseph Rosales (Jason-3).
Originally drafted as "Junk", the play was "greatly and lovingly inspired by Jon Bois’ seminal speculative sci-fi work, 17776," and it starred four charismatic characters filled with black comedy. But I saw much more from the script. For me, the failure of four satellites to accomplish their purposes denotes the inherent meaninglessness of life. Living in an era of political diaspora, I believe that theatre is meant to create a space to re-examine our deeds and empower people both on the stage and in the audience.
We wanted to explore The Overview Effect, which is a psychological experience characterized by overwhelming awe and emotion when one first sees the Earth from space. "It is difficult to put aside our individual lives and challenges to contemplate greater things, but what better place to do that than at the theater, where the world outside ceases momentarily to exist? But it has to be done theatrically. We spent much time revising, table working, then pushed all blocks to the ground and restarted.
It was through the struggles of development that I came to realize that, at its essence, the play is driven by the characters' voices, demonstrating how division becomes unity when we attempt to retain hope and seek meaning even when our purposes are destined to fail. It was on this ground of understanding I started establishing the orbits and daily duties with the satellites.
It was very challenging to stage "the universe" and "low-earth orbit" with limited tech elements. However, the moving sculpture exercises and breathing exercises I led helped the cast find their own frequency as a satellite. I took inspiration from the actual satellite pictures and started by treating the arms as antennas and tempo their frequencies. Later, we established a fully coded system of their movement mechanism. I am especially proud of the ensemble circling when INTERSAT demonstrates how it enabled the first global human communication, and of the movement of all satellites, which represents the first success of being unified and working for good.
Months later, I ran into an audience. She exclaimed to me, "It was my first time seeing the universe spin in front of my eyes! And I loved the satellites so much, I could not see them leave like that. It made me want to do something for the planet we live on."
And that was how I found meaning in developing and directing this play. I believe there is a wise and old INTERSAT, a romantic and creative HUBBLE, an observant yet pessimistic CHANDRA, and a neglected JASON-3 in every one of us. Therefore, this play was indeed a love letter to the human race, for everyone, and for everyone like Lowen, or me, or the only planet we have for now.