When space probe Parvis disappears just as it reaches the unidentified, mysteriously stationary object it has been sent to study, the scientists are called in to control media speculation.
Stressed-out NASA PR Manager Susie tries to maintain order in the press briefing and keep the peace during the expected blame-throwing between ICSA, managing the investigatory mission and NASA, the makers of the missing Parvis. It all works well to set the scene for this comedy which, when it really takes off, covers a deceptively broad web of themes around truth through its entertainingly sparky dialogue.
Into the room where it happens, Susie has invited NASA artist-in-residence, science fiction novelist Jake Mack. As much facilitator as censor, commentator as provocateur, their discussion explores the twilight zone where fact meets fiction.
When the impossible appears to happen, new, tough questions arise. Is it more scientific to fix only on things which are technically provable or be open to exploring hypotheses in order to arrive at fact, both avenues that take time whilst the media monster needs immediate feeding? Moreover, how do the experts tell the truth when they don’t know what’s going on?
Joe Edgar’s funny play avoids getting bogged down in international politics, though he makes a virtue of the multinational team of scientists. His own character is a Brit working for NASA who stays coolly aside as European agency ICSA’s scientists, Xavier Starr’s more creative-minded Jan and Sydney Crocker’s sincere Micky, spar with Alex Crook’s brash Matt, who channels NASA’s American arrogance.
Both with a different skin in the game are April Storm Perry’s well-intentioned but rattled Susie and Australian sci-fi author Jake played amiably by Eddie Mann, who fits in as much as he doesn’t, showing that science isn’t unique in needing to “control story-making”.
There is much to give pause to in Edgar’s thought-provoking text, and director Jessy Roberts could serve the play better by letting the audience take a moment to chew on the line and not just swallow the laughs whole, though solely as an entertaining comedy, The Incredibly Scary Object has more than strong enough legs.
Reflecting on this adept comedy through a post-COVID lens casts a dark resonance to thoughts about responsible discourse. Edgar’s funny play reminds us that, collectively, the public could not process raw facts rationally. The necessity for experts to provide context to counteract human instinct is unarguable, but equally, do we really want them to be the ones to control the narrative?