Beam Me Up Kate
2020, 2024
“The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life…Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we
make our stand.”
“...To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the
pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”
Excerpts from Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot”
It’s the year 2024. In the aftermath of a global pandemic, eleven beautiful misfits whose hearts need
mending, gaze toward interstellar space.
Little do they know that the 1977 Voyager Mission Golden Record is about to change their lives and the
course of the planet, forever.
A story of hope and humour. Told through sublime movement.
Also, Kate loves Kenny.
Kate leaves Kenny.
Carl loves Kate.
…and we all love Carl.
Back in 2020, fifty youth artists at SLIDE engaged with Joanna Noonan in the creative and artistic process of the
work Beam Me Up, Kate. Through many quarantines and zoom sessions, Beam Me Up, Kate was born from a
desire to find joy, hope and community in the strange world we were living in. The aim was to create a work to
welcome audiences back to theatres with a bang; a transcendent piece that would allow them to feel united,
laugh and give them hope.
Flash forward to 2024, these themes were just as relevant. Darwin was still recovering from the effects of the
pandemic, and the human race continued to be burdened with the likes of climate change, financial crisis, war,
and poverty. The one thing that could bring us comfort is that we were all in it together, and it was critical that we
support each other to find light and hope in the world.
In 2024, SLIDE will be remounted Beam Me Up, Kate, for audiences of all ages to immerse themselves in a
whirlwind of hope, humour, love, science and dance. A heart-warming story about a girl called Kate and her
friends who all wonder about the questions life presents, and search for answers in a field of wildflowers, looking
out to the great beyond for help.
Through a series of incredibly unreal events, Kate and her friends discover the power of asking for help, as well
as the strength each has inside their own hearts. With the assistance from some lovely folk from the planet
MakeMake, they learn how to look after each other and our Earth, reflecting on how hopeful life is on our planet.
Beam Me Up, Kate was inspired by the 1977 Voyager Space Missions and The Golden Records, which is still
travelling in interstellar space. The work of astronomer Carl Sagan and producer Ann Druyan was incredibly
influential in the making of Beam Me Up, Kate.
In the same week that Ann Druyan’s brain waves were recorded for the Golden Records by an EEG, Annie and
Carl had decided to get married. The euphoria of true love was sent out into the universe forever. For us, this
represents the ethereality of humankind, and gives us hope that love and compassion can transcend life on
Earth.
