Charles Campbell, Angharad Davies and Elliot Durko Lynch in "Soft Fences."/Photo by Al Hall.

By Caroline Palmer/Special to the Star Tribune

Even though space travel has become more prevalent over the past 50 years the experience never fails to fascinate. Recent blockbuster films like "Interstellar" and "Gravity" prove this point but a Hollywood-size budget isn't necessary to capture the experience for those of us who will never blast off like Major Tom.

Choreographer Megan Mayer has spent the past two years developing "Soft Fences," an evening-length work that draws upon the awe-inspiring experiences of astronauts to explore more down-to-earth ideas like extreme journey, loss, transformation, isolation and overcoming challenging situations. It premieres this weekend at Red Eye Theater and features Mayer along with performers Charles Campbell, Angharad Davies, Jim Domenick and Stephanie Stoumbelis with video cameos by Elliot Durko Lynch and Greg Waletski.

Mayer, interviewed prior to a recent rehearsal, explained that the work began to form during a residency at the Maggie Alleles National Center for Choreography in Tallahassee, Fla., when the artist and her collaborators took a day trip to the Kennedy Space Center. "I've always been a science fiction nerd," she said. During this period Mayer was going through significant personal and professional life transitions and although the scope of the subject matter felt intimidating she pursued it, focusing on the psychological aspects of life as an astronaut.

"Astronauts go away and do amazing things and then they come back. Their lives have changed, they've seen things [hardly anyone] else has seen. And then they're supposed to go to Costco?" said Mayer. As part of her research she immersed herself in NASA TV and interviewed Norman Thagard who flew on four space shuttle missions and was the first American astronaut to fly on a Soyuz Russian spacecraft.

Mayer was intrigued by the unique experience of combining an amazing journey with the routine maintenance of life that doesn't seem to go away beyond the atmosphere. A mind-blowing space walk, for example, might include the mundane task of changing bolts or mending equipment. What's different, of course, is that the view is of the planet or the deep infinite darkness of outer space.

The title, said Mayer, comes from the definition of "orbit." "I thought of it as circling but there is another definition: stuck or held between gravity and momentum," she continued. This "in-between place" is where spacecraft hover and the title refers to a sort of see-through barrier, a place of suspended transition between gravity and weightlessness, earth and space.

"Soft Fences" didn't come together easily. Life continued to throw curve balls at Mayer and her collaborators. The cast changed and Mayer grappled with finding funding to finish the work, all experiences that furthered her themes about the struggles, big and small, that must be overcome to achieve a goal. Now she's finally nearing the final countdown on the premiere and all systems are go.

"Soft Fences" will be performed December 4-7. For further information and tickets visit redeye theater.