We Want Love?: A Review of The Runaways Lab Theater’s Affection as a Space Vacuum

By Danielle Levsky

The Runaways’ aesthetic and identity has come into itself more and more with each of their productions. I first saw them in 2017, when they partnered with Pop Magic Productions on "The Portrait of Dorian Gray." Since then, I've followed along their labs, "Force and Motion", "Doing Drugs and Dying in Space" festivals, and their reading of "Trapped in Elon's Mansion". Since my first encounter, the emphasis on “primo weirdo” theater has been clear, but with this particular piece, written and produced by Jessie McCarty, they’ve found a balance of the bizarre and absurd with the academic and existential.

“Affection as a Space Vacuum” is a smartly written play about A (Maddie Ballard) who has an on-again, off-again relationship with a black hole and a human lover (both aptly played by one actor, Dakota Brown). A searches for meaning in her sexual entanglements, in her astrophysics classes, in a guidance program for those who have fallen romantically for a black hole.

McCarty’s script exhibits their poetry background with a delicate balance, weaving between conversations so painfully realistic and embarrassing you can swear they’ve pulled it from my memory bank, to detailed and effective metaphor. Sound design by Colton McCarty and direction by Makenzie Beyer and Niky Crawford emphasized the isolation of the characters, of the universe in purposeful and distinct ways.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see Nicholas Hassebrock as Professor and Dylan Fahoome as Teacher’s Assistant play in productions’ past, and their back and forth, their dynamic is endlessly entertaining to watch. They sink into their characters and resume their shifting, hierarchical relationship, allowing the inflections and timbres of their voices and physical comedy to send the audience into uproarious belly laughter.

From a surface level, this could be seen as a play about an astrophysics student having casual sex with black holes and human lovers alike. Dig deeper and you’ll find that it could be about the interconnectedness of the universe, our galaxy, our solar system, and our daily human lives. Dig even deeper and maybe it’s a play about the laws of physics coinciding with the human emotion and physical intimacy. Even if you stay at the surface, it’s still a sharply written, well-performed piece of “primo weirdo” theatre.

Affection as a Space Vacuum’s final performance occurs Monday, February 17 at The Prop Thtr, 3502 North Elston Avenue as part of Rhinofest. More information can be found here.