Flights

Flights’ Australian debut comes some four years after its premiere in Ennis, in the Republic of Ireland. Ennis does not even have its own airport, but the protagonists meet in a semi derelict shack-cum-clubhouse called “Pointers” which does imply that there are options for leaving, even if no-one ever does. The oft-mentioned road is a road that goes nowhere.

Flights is a beautiful piece of writing. It is funny, poetic, and poignant. Seventeen years after the death of their seventeen-year-old friend, three friends meet to remember and honour the loss which has somehow shaped their lives. Pa, Cusack and Barry, play darts, and drink, reflecting on where life has taken them, and what might have been. In a flight of imagination, each actor takes a turn to reincarnate Liam, their dead mate. These are men who might turn to substance abuse to free their tongues but unashamedly express grief, regret and doubt in a manner that feels authentic, intimate, and humbling.

The characters are compelling. Pa, homeless and unemployed, has the greatest commitment to the yearly ritual of remembrance but he, like the others, has confused the facts and augmented the myth. Andrew Homes (whose impressive CV includes a PhD in drama) imbues Pa with vulnerability and wit.

Holmes’ performance is a physical and vocal embodiment of the character. All three give convincing Irish accents and dance around each other in tightly blocked choreography that can only have come from director, Natalie Venetacci. The perennial game of darts becomes a joyful ballet – an auditory and visual game of Pong. The actors are not afraid to touch each other in a manner that augments their genuine connection.

Richard Edge is another highly qualified professional in film, theatre, and television, who takes the role of Cusack. Cusack has a mortgage and a child and expresses all the ambivalence that comes with these responsibilities. He is working ‘hard to hold on to it all’ and ‘trying to keep it together’ while Pa (Holmes) has nothing but the freedom of wondering where to go next. Edge is charismatic as Cusack, who allows us to see the vulnerable and insecure side of the new father who seems to have it all.

Completing the overqualified triumvirate of actors is Nathan Spencer. NIDA graduate and film producer, Spencer plays the deluded and hopeless Barry. Spencer is the first to ‘reincarnate’ as Liam. Yes, there is a lighting cue, but it is immediately evident from Spencer’s change of demeanour that he is playing another character.

The dead 17-year-old in not ‘in’ the play, but he does dominate. He is equally present in recollection and representation. Liam dropped out of school to ‘follow the sun’ and was equally drawn to the ‘orange…skirts of light’ of the streetlamps. Liam reminds us of youthful ambition and invulnerability as well as the glorious pain of first love. He may have become a Pa or a Barry or a Cusack as much as they may have easily become him.

Flights is a play that stays with you. The poignance of this beautiful play on a simple set is enhanced by original music by David Keating. The acting is outstanding, and the amount of beer consumed, a marathon of bladder control.

Anne Blythe-Cooper

Images: Millie Crouch Photography