Writing mAKING aSTRONAUTS
Perspective from playwright Jonathon Hall
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Jonathon Hall |
Writing ‘Making Astronauts’ presented me with two problems
that were particular to the nature of the piece itself (as opposed to
the usual myriad problems facing a writer when writing something). The
first devolved from the fact because the scientific element I was centring
the story around- Genetic selection- was still relatively undeveloped
I had to set the story some ten years or so into the future. The problem
facing me was how to convincingly suggest that future through script
and production -more pertinently how to suggest that through a production
which had nothing like the budget of films like ‘Minority Report’
or even your average episode of ‘Tomorrow’s World’!
Traditionally writers and productions have been pretty poor at depicting
the future- according to the science fiction of the sixties and seventies
when I was growing up. By now, 2003, we should all be driving hovercars,
living in domes and wearing silver spandex jump suits. Nowadays, surely,
we should be able to suggest something more realistic? To arrive at
some realistic ideas what I had to do was think carefully about the
way things had developed over the past few years and then try and logically
predict how those trends may continue- in a way that was realistic in
terms of budget. Working from home on the computer was one way- as was
the prevalence of electronic mail, and catalogues and prospectuses on
CD. The concept of genetic selection- the centrepiece of the play- was
pretty futuristic and having that as the motivation behind the characters
actions automatically gave the piece a ‘future feel’- the
woman being a surrogate Mum as a latter day ‘cottage industry’
is a good example of this. However I found that the old adage that ‘the
more things change, the more they stay the same’ was indeed true.
When I looked back at the past ten years I realised that whereas many
things had changed radically and dramatically I could see that just
as many things have either stayed the same or changed more slowly. TV
programmes, housing and clothing were good examples, we may all be using
mobile phones and linked by the net, but we’re also still watching
soaps with a passion, living in semis and terraces and wearing clothes
that would not have looked out of place ten years ago (alas the silver
spandex is for dressing up only).
The second problem was a lot more fundamental to the nature of the
piece itself. The central dilemma of the play revolved around a couple
wishing to ‘choose’ certain characteristics for their children.
This immediately conjured up images in my mind of pushy parents sending
reluctant offspring to oboe lessons, tennis coaching and private school-
an image I felt to be dramatically uninteresting. To me people who would
make such choices – to choose children on the basis of intelligence
or beauty are- well, fairly shallow people. People I know with children
or expecting children wouldn’t countenance making such a choice
for one moment, preferring to love their child for whoever they are
rather than to impose genetic traits on them (that is aside from eliminating
harmful ones, such as Cystic fibrosis- again dramatically uninteresting
in terms of conflict as this is a choice that the majority would agree
with). Therefore I had to try hard and think about parents to whom such
a choice would be relevant and interesting. Whilst researching I heard
about the case of an American deaf couple who had ensured their children
be born deaf- and from there I had my central dilemma. Take a supposedly
genetic trait shared by both parents (I do realise that in the case
of homosexuality this is by no means conclusive), a trait that wasn’t
life threatening but was controversial: should that trait be actively
screened out of their child? The idea of gay Dads screening a child
for being gay seemed particularly pertinent because as a gay man I know
about the pain and isolation that gay men can feel- enough to know that
it’s something I would hesitate to deliberately wish on any child
of mine.
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