David van Belle owns the stage, and the air around it, in The Highest Step in the World.

DETAILS

The Highest Step in the World presented by Ghost River Theatre
Big Secret Theatre
Tuesday, February 16 - Saturday, March 6

More in: Theatre

The Big Secret Theatre is draped in white tarp. The floors are painted white. The small stage is white. Even the lone chair is white. It’s a perfect insane asylum setting, befitting the mad geniuses behind Ghost River Theatre, David van Belle and Eric Rose.

The duo’s latest production, The Highest Step in the World, tells the story of those who take risks and why. Ostensibly, it’s about Joseph Kittinger, who still holds the world record for the highest parachute jump. This madman stepped off a weather balloon at 100,000 feet and is the central character of the production.

Written by van Belle and Rose, Highest Step is yet another affirmation of the duo’s successful experimentation. Incorporating collaborative script writing with well-thought-out production elements, Ghost River continues to impress with its small shows. This one features van Belle as the sole actor, playing four different characters (and sometimes himself), but he has a little help from the immersive audiovisual environment that is the real reason for all the whitewash.

In the beginning, seagulls fly on the walls surrounding the audience. At one point we find ourselves immersed amongst the stars, with one particularly stunning and vertigo-inducing swirl of celestial bodies. Most impressive is when other bodies are projected onto the white-clad body of van Belle, literally transforming him into another character. First the organs appear, followed by the skeleton, muscles, flesh and clothing (this is done by the audiovisual design team — Ami Farrow, Ben Chaisson and Court Brinsmead).

Rigging attached to the roof zips van Belle up and off the stage, into the air. He flies above the audience as Icarus, wings spread wide, or sits aloft as Kittinger, contemplating his great leap.

It would be easy for this production to get lost in the bells and whistles, but the script holds its own against the technology and van Belle is solid and likable in all his roles, including Vesna Vulovic, a Serbian stewardess who survived a mid-air bombing and plunging without a parachute to the ground. There’s also a pissy teenage Icarus and his father.

This production moves along at a good clip, easily immersing the audience in a different world, but there are moments when you are jarred back to reality. As the play opens, van Belle speaks to the audience, but he’s not really acting. He talks about the project. Then, in the middle of the production, he stops to talk about the challenges in his own life, including the fact that his wife recently moved out of their home. It is a strange but effective device that ultimately, blends with the final message.

In the end, the contemplative nature of the script becomes clear. This is a tale of fear and fearlessness, sorrow and success, of how victories can turn to tragedies and tragedies can either elevate us or destroy us. It’s about those who take risks, why they do it and how, ultimately we have to face those risks one way or another. Rose and van Belle took a risk with this production and there’s no doubt it’s a victory.