Interview: 'The Best Kinds Of Friendship Are When You Share Art': Van Hughes and Nick Blaemire on Bringing Rock Musical, SPACE DOGS, to London
'It's both dumb and devastating, and that's a fascinating combination'
After runs in Maine and New York, the musical Space Dogs is flying to London. Written and performed by Van Hughes and Nick Blaemire and directed by Will Blum, the show tells the story of Laika, the first dog who went to space during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, with an exploration of the relationship between man and dog.
Recently, we had the chance to speak with Hughes and Blaemire about bringing Space Dogs to the UK. We discussed what made them want to create the show eight years ago, what their creative process has been like, and what they hope audiences take away from Space Dogs.
What made you want to create Space Dogs?
Van: Well, Nick and I had become friends after he cast me in a production of A Little More Alive in Kansas City Rep. We had become music buddies, just sending things back and forth, being like, “Do you know what this is?” The best kinds of friendship are when you share art with each other. I was ready to write a new thing, and was in the research phase, went on YouTube, and just answered the question, “Did dogs go to space? I can't remember if that's true or not!” And went on this crazy YouTube rabbit hole. Immediately called Nick, ran him through the whole story of what I had found . . .
Nick: And I wrote it down as he was talking!
Van: Nick famously said, “Is this the first thing we write together?” And I was like, “Yes!” It's crazy that eight years ago now, we started just the kernel of the idea, and our sensibility led us to make it in the way that we did - very off-the-cuff, yet hyper-stylised theatrically, yet something you can't quite predict. And different genres of music, ideas we'd been throwing back and forth, and it's just been a joy. We've been writing, performing and rewriting it now for eight years. It's so fun!
And for those who might be unfamiliar with it, can you tell us a bit about Space Dogs?
Nick: So it is essentially a documentary about the Russian space programme and their work in trying to win the space race by getting a man into space before America. Everybody feared killing an astronaut, so they tried to figure out ways to see if a life form could even survive in space conditions - Russians chose dogs. And honestly, it's a very sad story, because Laika, the dog that first went into space, passed away, and Russia covered it up. So there's this really dark underbelly in the show, but it's also just a hilarious idea that there are these very stern Russian scientists who are trying to stave off nuclear war who are just like, [in Russian accent] “Little doggy, come here, put on this spacesuit and get in this little rocket.” It's both dumb and devastating, and that's a fascinating combination.
The theme of human idiocy is really in the show, and it centres around the risk of nuclear war, and boys with toys - who's got their finger on the button, who's a bigger man, who's got the bigger rocket - we're still dealing with those problems today. And what's fascinating is that the bond between humans and dogs transcends any of those conflicts. It brings out the absolute best side in every person. When you even mention the idea of a dog, you see their hearts grow three sizes. And so we thought that conflict between those two tones was really fascinating, and it's continued to be.
What has the creative process been like these past eight years for the show?
Van: Well, we had our first production in a barn in Maine at the Barn Arts Collective two years before Covid, and that was the first big push to finish this thing. And then Nick ran into Bernie Telsey at MCC [Manhattan Class Company Theater], who we both love, and who made our careers, and then that production was a whole other ball of wax! It was like, “Now we're in the commercial off-Broadway theatre. How can we pump up the story? How can we get rid of some of the off-the-cuffness?” Because that's what they were interested in - the technical design, the cameras, and making it a big production. It was their first show back after Covid, so they wanted to really wow people, and we were up to the challenge.
So the process has been serving each of these productions, and now this one in London is going to be our 3.0 version - we're finding new things already! I'm about to sit down and write a whole new nightmare sequence today. We work so well together because we see the same thing, and that's really hard with collaborators - to see exactly the same outcome to work towards. And even though we change things constantly and might be serving different purposes with different productions, we're always trying to get down to the core tone and style of how we want to tell this story. The main piece of the collaboration that we won't know till we get there is the people in the UK - they're going to have a completely different sensibility than the people in a barn in Maine, or the off-Broadway MCC audience.
Nick: Process-wise, one of the things that I find so special about working with Van is that it does feel very easy, and I think it's because of what he just said about being innately on the same page. Our lives led us to a similar aesthetic, and we both have very complementary skills [...] What I love about going to the theatre is feeling like we're back with the people who wrote it - they bottled that excitement about coming up with that idea. That excitement is what we're trying to protect as we bring it into our first international production - to infect everybody in the audience with the fascination that we have with this thing that really happened that has so many emotional moments in it that are so ripe for dramatisation.
What has it been like seeing audience reactions to Space Dogs?
Van: It's been thrilling just to see that many people don't even know this story! So it is just inherently fascinating in that way. And then, even if you know the story, it seems like people get a real kick out of how we want to tell it with our zany style. It's comedy until it's not, and we're constantly trying to keep you guessing in the same way that people must have felt during the Cold War and the space race about these new developments coming out.
Nick: We're really excited to do this in London, partially because we're going to do it with like almost no stuff - we did it at MCC with a real phalanx of geniuses in the design department, and the puppeteers and projection designers, and we had live LEDs. And to do it now with just dog puppets and some instruments actually puts more tools back in our performing tool belt, because it allows us to really be creating the story for you in the way that we perform it, rather than relying on stuff. Both versions are cool, but to get to do this one is where our aesthetic has evolved to.
What do you hope audiences take away from Space Dogs?
Van: I think that probably everybody already understands how special dogs are, so they may take that home with them already. But the main part of the story that is so genius is the context of where we were at the time after World War Two. Even the idea of, “We're going to put a man in space,” that just seems completely preposterous, and then they did it! That idea of invention, and how something to us now is just commonplace. Hell, space has become a publicly traded company for tourism now.
Nick: Yes to all of that! [...] We are an accomplishment-based species - we love to win, acquire and make, and there's something very constructive about that. There's also something very destructive about that. And what is fascinating is that, as we move into AI and acquire the publicly traded company of the stars, we're exploring outward, but are we looking inward? Are we exploring outward in order to not look inward, in order to not face ourselves? We listen to podcasts all day long, so we don't have to hear ourselves think anymore. And what dogs do, it's the perfect opposite to that accomplishment-winning mentality. Dogs don't care if we win or lose - they love you no matter what. I hope the audience takes away the feeling of, don't run from yourself. Look other people in the eye and find the depth that they have to offer. If you need a check-in as to what's important, go look a dog in the eye.
And finally, how would each of you describe Space Dogs in one word?
Van: Genre-defying.
Nick: Ridiculous - double meaning!
Space Dogs runs from 28 July - 9 August at The Other Palace.
