There’s something heroic about astronauts. After all, what is braver than confronting the unknown?

Jumping Off The Earth certainly feels like a leap into new territory, an appropriate undertaking for Rough Magic’s SEEDS showcase, directed by José Miguel Jiménez. A shuttle interior designed by Aedín Cosgrove is fantastically disorientating upon arrival, pulsing with a medley of beeps, piano ivories and the swelling orchestrations of Alma Kelliher’s sound design. Here crew members play out a space opera of petty rivalries and unspoken loves against life threatening situations. It’s all ridiculous and fun to watch, but where will it lead us?

An unnatural shift in tone comes unexpectedly, and our heroes become sentimental versions of themselves. The performer Brian Bennett has expertly traced the line between charm and absurdity in the past, but this time he and his colleagues fall squarely into the latter camp. The syrupy sentimentality of these pilots as they playfully caress the cosmos doesn’t earn our faith.

Still, Jumping Off The Earth is a worthwhile celebration of the fact that we have already measured the universe through sheer imagination alone, a point gloriously underscored by the actor Robert Bannon singing David Bowie to the stars.