"Darkside," a play written by Ken Jones in 1988, was produced by the Rude Guerilla Theater Company and presented August 5-27, 2005. The play proved to be very popular and received positive reviews, with over half of the performances playing to sell-out crowds. Mach 25 Media served as Technical Advisor for this production. In addition I provided the Apollo 18 mission patch, several stage props, and a theater display during the show run. Check the links to the right to see more pages devoted to the exciting 2005 production of "Darkside."

Main Page: This page contains a synopsis of the play, the 2005 Cast and Crew credits, a Scene List and Timeline, and the August 2005 Show Schedule.

Articles: An archive of newspaper and magazine articles concerning "Darkside." Also included on this page are a review and photographs from the September 1997 Southern California production of "Darkside" at the Huntington Beach Playhouse.

Photographs: Follow the production from casting, rehearsals, performances, and parties, through to the finale as the stage is closed down.

Props/Displays: See the various props and displays created by Mach 25 Media and the Orange County Space Society for the 2005 Rude Guerrilla production. Included is a special tribute to the last man each Apollo crew saw before they lifted off for the Moon.

Synopsis: The play deals with a fictional mission of Apollo 18, the last of the lunar exploration missions, launched in October 1973. The play picks up with the end of the surface activities on the Moon and the crew of the Lunar Module "Yorktown" is ready to launch back into orbit to meet up with their companion in the Command Module "Independence" for return to Earth. The LM rocket engine does not ignite and the astronauts are stranded on the surface.

The remainder of the play revolves around the crisis and how it is dealt with by the crew and Mission Control. Whenever "Independence" orbits around to the far side of the Moon and is out of communications, we go into flashback sequences seen through the mind of the Command Module Pilot, showing us how the astronauts coped with family life, training, and their launch on this historic mission.

August 2005 "Darkside" Cast and Crew list

CREW:

Director

Assistant Director

Stage Manager

Costume Designer

Lighting

Technical Advisor

CAST:

"Gunner" Smith

Bill Griffin

Ed Stone

Reporter

Gigi Stone

Beth Griffin

CapCom

Pad Leader

Sharyn Case *

Kristina Seitz

Cynthia Hood

Heather Enriquez

Andrew Nienaber

Michelle Evans

Vince Campbell *

Jay Fraley

Ryan Harris

Larry Scott *

Jami McCoy

Coreen Mueller

Jonathon Markanday

Larry Evans

* from 1997 Huntington Beach production

"DARKSIDE" SCENE LIST (Timeline):

00 Launch Preparations: October 4, 1973 at 08:30 EST

01 Moon: October 10, 1973

02 Interview: September 27, 1973

03 Pre-Launch Party: September 1, 1973

04 Moon: October 10, 1973

–– Interlude

05 Command Module Simulator: September 3, 1973

06 Moon: October 11, 1973 (EVA)

07 Pre-Launch Party: September 1, 1973

08 Bill and Beth’s Bedroom: September 14, 1973

09 Moon: October 11, 1973

10 Pre-Launch Party: September 1, 1973

11 The Beach House: September 16, 1973

12 Moon: October 11, 1973

13 Bambi Motel: September 15, 1973

14 Pre-Launch Press Conference: September 27, 1973

15 Moon: October 11, 1973

16 Launch: October 4, 1973 at 11:42 EST

17 Moon: October 11, 1973

2005 SHOW SCHEDULE:

Friday, August 5 @ 8:00 pm

OPENING NIGHT (This also happened to be Neil Armstrong's 75th birthday!)

Saturday, August 6 @ 8:00 pm

Sunday, August 7 @ 2:30 pm

Friday, August 12 @ 8:00 pm

Saturday, August 13 @ 8:00 pm (Talk Back*)

Sunday, August 14 @ 2:30 pm

Friday, August 19 @ 8:00 pm

Saturday, August 20 @ 8:00 pm (Talk Back*)

Sunday, August 21 @ 2:30 pm

Thursday, August 25 @ 8:00 pm

Friday, August 26 @ 8:00 pm

Saturday, August 27 @ 8:00 pm

CLOSING NIGHT

*Talk Back: Following these performances, the cast returned to the stage to answer questions from the audience.