Callisto 5 / Callisto#7: Synopsis

Callisto 5
Cast: 2 male / 1 female
Running time: To be confirmed.
Availability: Callisto 5 is available for both professional and amateur production.
Acting edition: Published by Samuel French

Callisto#7
Cast: 2 male / 2 female
Running time: 1 Hour and 10 minutes (no interval).
Availability: Callisto#7 is available for both professional and amateur production.
Acting edition: Callisto#7 has not been published.

The basic plot of both plays is the same, although Callisto#7 extensively revises the original play with the introduction of a second protagonist, the older sister Jodi.

Characters

Callisto 5
○ Jem (A boy, 17)
○ DAMARIS (A robot)
○ IRIS (A computer)
○ Cass (Jem's father)

Note: DAMARIS and Cass are played by the same actor

Callisto#7
○ Jodi (A young girl)
○ Jem (Jodi's younger brother)
○ PADWAC (A robot)
○ IRIS (A computer)
○ Cass (Jodi and Jem's mother)
○ Keren (Jodi and Jem's father)

Note: PADWAC, IRIS, Cass and Keren are all doubled up roles
Both plays are set on the moon of Callisto, the outermost Gallilean satellite of Jupiter. Some years previously, a disaster occurred in another one of the station’s modules isolating the characters (Jem and his cryogenically suspended sister Elise in Callisto 5; Jem and his sister Jodi in Callisto#7) and trapping parents Cass and Keren in another distant module.

The child / children are cared for by IRIS, the station’s powerful computer and a malfunctioning childcare and maintenance robot (DAMARIS in Callisto 5; PADWAC in Callisto#7). Having reached breaking-point due to their long solitude, the children’s lives are threatened when an unknown life-form is detected outside the station. DAMARIS / PADWAC is sent to the surface to investigate and is chased by the monster. The robot safely returns to the station.

Unfortunately, the life-form - invisible to the naked eye - has entered with the robot. The robot is possessed and becomes a threat until it is de-activated. The monster is still loose though, until it is discovered it is visible through a video-camera. A camera is hooked up to the monitors around the station in a bid to find the monster.

Eventually the monster is discovered (in Callisto#7 as a result of the children having to resolve their differences and working together), trapped and destroyed. IRIS then reveals the monster was an illusion created to ease the solitude of the child / children. As life threatens to return to normal, another life-form is detected outside the station: Cass and Keren have finally returned and the family is restored.

Although the plays share the same plot, there are some significant differences. Callisto 5 features only 17 year-old Jem who must use his wits to save the day. His sister, Elise, is held in cryogenic storage. The script notes the play is set in Space Station No.5. At the climax, Elise is restored to health.

In Callisto#7, 13 year-old Jodi and her nine year-old brother Jem are stranded. Their have a fraught relationship and have to learn how to work together and to utilise their different talents to defeat the creature. The script notes the play is set in Uniplex#7 (Maintenance Unit).

Article by Simon Murgatroyd. Copyright: Haydonning Ltd. Please do not reproduce without permission of the copyright holder.