When people are rushing up to the ticket desk before the show, begging for seats in a sold-out show, you know it's going to be a good one! And it really was.
Oli Forsyth's play is a slick affair, set in the aftermath of a hijacked plane. While Sylvia (Anjana Vasan) skillfully manages the journey from 'strong' to 'broken', Ray's (Phil Dunstar) acting blew me away. So utterly believable and natural.
A honeymoon couple, Ray and Sylvia, are trapped in a nightmare; a plane hijacked by an unstable passenger. Sylvia saves the day and nobody dies.
But Sylvia dies, little by little, unable to forget the details and how she 'saved the day' while Ray, who initially is an utter wreck, finds a way to get over it. It's the tragic breakdown of their relationship. It's also an incredibly astute muse on trauma and PTSD.
Oli Forsyth's writing is phenomenal. Crafting a play that is utterly captivating, he takes the audience on an epic emotional rollercoaster. In parts very funny and yet sad, astute, uncomfortable, shocking. He whips us about in our seats, just like a plane free-falling from the sky. His script is so neat, the way it twists, turns, buries clues, ties up loose ends and finishes on the scene that was always missing (what actually happened).
The set is superb (a slanted mid-section stage like the aisle of a falling plane) and so is the soundscape. A third character (Craige Els) plays all the 'third role' parts from hijacker, to an angry father, to the pilot—and rather than a lazy / cheap option, it somehow works perfectly. In fact, using his role swapping to terrify Sylvia (she thinks the hijacker's come for her) is genius.
You will be lucky to get tickets—as I say, I saw many disappointed people turned away—but do try. You will not be disappointed.