It was one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind. Or was it? Small Steps, an original play written by Dennis Webber, explores the conspiracy theory that man never landed on the moon through a group of designers during the 1960s.

Communication sophomore Dinah Finkelstein directs the eight-person play, going up in Shanley Pavilion tonight at 8 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

“It is really a multimedia experience,” Finkelstein says. “(There’s) full scoring and projected images for the whole show.”

Bryce Norbitz, a Communication sophomore and producer of the play, says it connects the conspiracy theory to the actors’ personal lives. “It’s about people whose world is too small for them and their struggle to get someplace bigger…. which parallels America’s desire to go to space,” she says.

This should come as a small surprise as Webber, a Communication senior, says most of his ideas for plays come from film, media and television. “(Small Steps) is a combination of my love of breaking into different forms of film media and breaking into the conspiracy theory,” Webber says. “It allows me to explore two different avenues.”

While researching the history behind the conspiracy theory, Webber says he came across a number of YouTube.com videos. He says they all tried to convince the viewer that man never landed on the moon.

He says he now believes in the conspiracy theory and that his research “pulled me over to the dark side.”

“I got psyched into it and I think it’s pretty preposterous if we made that leap (many years ago), why didn’t we go back?”

– Emily Glazer