In this month’s spotlight, one of Scotland’s leading visual theatre makers shares an update about the development of new show ‘Voyager’.
In 1977, NASA sent two spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, out into space. Their aim was to explore our solar system…and then keep going. Since I discovered this fascinating story I haven’t been able to shake it off. Alongside Sarah Rose Graber, we’re bringing this story to life on a stage near you.
The Voyagers sent back breathtaking photographs, including our own unique and insignificant Earth, suspended in a beam of light. The Voyagers also transcended what was humanly possible – they are the farthest any human-made object has fared into deep space. Most interesting perhaps, is that they didn’t travel alone. Both carry a Golden Record on board – a microcapsule of home – giving any alien life a glimpse into human life on Earth – sounds and images from our planet and the experience of being human.
We received the Creative Fund from Manipulate Arts in 2025 and we spent 2 weeks exploring video projections in our devising. We’d never included that in our making before, but we were convinced we wanted to create a larger than life visual experience. Alongside Video Designer Tim Reid, we played with different projection interactions and wee moveable Pico projectors, and found exciting ways to devise with them. It was great, indeed, to be able to include such a big design element early in the devising process – it felt integrated and opened up possibilities we’d never been aware of before.
Our work culminated in a 15-minute presentation at Manipulate Festival’s Snapshots in February, giving us an idea of the scale of the work we’d created. It was daunting and exciting – Voyager is going to be bigger and more challenging than anything we’ve created before. And I can’t wait to get it finished and premiere it on the mission’s 50th anniversary in 2027!
About Ruxy
“[one] of Scotland’s leading visual theatre makers” Ruxandra Cantir is a Moldova-born, US-trained, Glasgow-based physical theatre maker, performer, and teacher. Ruxy devises and performs original work for all ages ranging from spectacle-based outdoor theatre to intimate indoor work using Mask, Movement, Puppetry, Clown and Visual Theatre. www.ruxandracantir.com
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