Hello From the Children of Planet Earth

<p>  Outer space and inner space the nebula and the womb: As playwright Don Nguyen observes cosmic exploration shares some salient features with quests for human conception. (Like: No matter how much data you have each voyage is a total unknown.) The analogy isn't new but Nguyen explores it with an endearing sincerity in HELLO FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH a...space drama about family-making and personal risk.... Nguyen's piece is an invitation to value impossible odysseys no matter where they might end.</p><p>  HELLO FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH shuttles between two long-term partnerships: Betsy and Shoshana are a couple who long to be parents while William and Freddy are bro-colleagues at NASA charged with tracking the legendary space probe Voyager I. William and Betsy were high-school BFFs but haven't spoken in seventeen years-until the women exhausted from a series of miscarriages and expensive IVF treatments contact him out of the blue as a potential sperm donor. William is flattered and terrified. He's been single and career-focused for decades and Voyager roaming outer space since 1977 is the closest he's got to a dependent. He considers the possibility (then excitedly acquiesces) over the course of several awkward get-togethers including one that features Freddy as a loud jokey wingman; too many margaritas; and some confusion over whether calamari is made from octopus or squid.</p><p>  Meanwhile in a series of fantastical interludes a figure called The Farthest Explorer clad in shimmering robes and bedecked in LED lights-a human embodiment of the Voyager-reports on her journey to the outer reaches of interstellar space. Strapped to her chest is Carl Sagan's famous Golden Record: a collection of earthly sounds music and multilingual greetings sent into the cosmos in hopes of fostering communications with extraterrestrial beings.</p><p>HELLO FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH is an...engaging ode to personal growth. ...it's hard not to root for Nguyen's celebration of unconventional family-which here extends from Betsy Shoshana and their potential child to include a sperm donor and his close friend.</p><p>  The play's central comparison is between a fetus and a space probe and its central drama follows the agonizing wait for communications from both: news about the pregnancy's health news about the Voyager's arrival in the interstellar zone.... Nguyen's play [wi]ll lead you onto familiar ground with compassionate humor.</p><p>Miriam Felton-Dansky The Village Voice</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>