Korolyov

And suddenly from outside came harsh, abrupt, metallic sounds, such as Korolyov had never heard before, and which he did not understand now; they roused strange, unpleasant echoes in his soul.

The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories Anton Pavlovich Chekhov 1882

Noma Dumezweni is also outstanding as the doctor who struggles to keep him alive through a series of heart attacks, and Greg Hicks doubles niftily as a carping general and a gulag victim who haunts Korolyov's imagination.

Little Eagles – review 2011

So we see Korolyov and his team trumping the Americans by launching the first artificial satellite in 1957 and putting Gagarin into space in 1961.

Little Eagles – review 2011

Even if time has undermined Korolyov's claim that space exploration "would change what it means to be human", Munro's play recaptures the momentary excitement of that dream.

Little Eagles – review 2011

But a combination of the Cuban missile crisis, power shifts in the Soviet Union and his own failing health ensure that Korolyov, who died in 1966, is never able to capitalise on his triumphs.

Little Eagles – review 2011

What Munro gives us is not just a tribute to an unsung hero but a fascinating study of Korolyov's growing conflict with the military and political machine.

Little Eagles – review 2011

The video footage of the landing was shown on a big screen at Russia's Mission Control Center in Korolyov outside Moscow, which is used to handle manned missions to the international space stations.

Mock Mars mission simulates landing on Red Planet 2011

But Rona Munro, in this epic play for the RSC, has shrewdly chosen to focus on the little-known figure of Sergei Korolyov: the rocket designer and truculent visionary responsible for the Soviet space programme.

Little Eagles – review 2011

She starts by showing Korolyov as a prisoner in the gulag in 1938 and the lucky recipient of a female doctor's sole life-saving vaccine.

Little Eagles – review 2011

But it tells a gripping story, and Darrell D'Silva invests Korolyov with the right mixture of bullish obstinacy and patriarchal concern for the pilots he dubbed his "little eagles".

Little Eagles – review 2011