“Rosie Wyatt is captivating. Lively, fragile and engaging.”
On the night of the moon landing, Sylvia Moone has an encounter with an astronaut that has a ripple effect for those closest to her. Winner of the 2016 Theatre503 Playwriting Award, Andrew Thompson’s In Event of Moone Disaster is a comedy about space exploration very much grounded in the reality of family life. Spanning nearly a century, 3 generations deal with the consequences of looking to the stars.
Theatre 503 rarely disappoint and once again they have delivered an auspicious and beautiful new play to the stage. This is an accomplished and charming debut from Andrew Thompson. The story weaves seamlessly through its many time jumps, depicting a family in flux as each generation pushes and pulls against the aspirations it inherits. It’s a coherent, touching and funny glimpse at how dreams of greatness can impact the ordinary, that’s not afraid to take a few satirical swipes at current issues in its future view.
Technically the show is beautiful, a minimal set (designer Sarah Beaton) that uses lights and sound to create the atmospheres of the different periods very effectively. The direction (Lisa Spirling) is clean keeping the focus squarely on the character’s connections throughout. The play is also playful in its style, switching between sci-fi and domestic. My only niggle was Julie’s (Alicya Eyo) direct address to the audience. While it was a great speech performed beautifully, I’m still not sure what purpose it served other than to make 2017 seem a little alien.
As both daydreamer Sylvia and her granddaughter facing a fantastical reality, Rosie Wyatt is captivating. Lively, fragile and engaging, she invites the audience to share Sylvia’s fantasy even when the reality becomes painfully clear. Will Norris as Neil gives an earnest and sympathetic take on a man obsessed with family, even when his tactics take a turn for the bullish, offset beautifully by Eyo’s pragmatic Julie. In multiple roles, Dar Dash impresses giving poignancy to the ending. But for me, it was Thomas Pickles’ Dennis who has the heart of the play. Goofy, hapless and out of his depth, its heartbreaking to see his bumbled attempts at doing the right thing repeatedly be met with rejection, and the vulnerability in Pickles performance makes the scene between him and Norris devastating.
Overall, this an exciting and confident production, once again affirming that Theatre 503 is the fringe’s new writing King.
“an exciting, moving, hilarious and provocative piece of theatre”
The first thing we hear from Tiffany (Rosie Wyatt) is an extended burp, caused by her opening and downing a can of Diet Coke on stage. It’s a good introduction to this immensely visceral play, in which the playwright, Sarah Kosar, explores the pain that stems from grief and emotional isolation by putting the body centre stage.
The metaphorical is made concrete. It’s a simple, but effective theatrical concept, and is cleverly offset by the striking visual projections behind the action, which serve as a continual reminder of the online world which we all increasingly inhabit.
Photography courtesy of Lidia Crisafulli
Kosar is a playful playwright, both in her willingness to embrace the surreal, and the evident pleasure she takes in the spoken word. There are some wonderful Ortonesque moments – ‘And I just lost my mum. My parent. I’m a half-orphan now’, Tiffany spits at her dad (Andrew Frame) towards the beginning of the show. I also loved the sections of Kate Tempest inspired spoken word in the piece, in which Tiffany tries to make sense of her painful emotional landscape.
Despite the subject matter, the play is also extremely funny, and it’s a testament to both the playwright and the two performers that this reviewer both cried with laughter and was moved to tears within the show’s 75 minute time frame. Andrew Frame’s Hugh was a poignant portrait of a man initially paralysed by the loss of his wife, slowly returning to the world and re-finding his relationship with his daughter.
Witnessing him open up, both physically and vocally, over the course of the play, was a delight. Although I could have done with a little more tonal variation, Rosie Wyatt was convincing too as the neurotic 25 year old Tiffany, weighed down by the loss of her mother, inching towards the light. Tommo Fowler’s able and subtle direction allowed each character to breathe, and the design team (Robbie Butler – lighting; Odinn Orn Hilmarsson – sound; Charlotte Henery – set and costume; Fed – projection) created an arresting visual and aural world.
Mumburger is an exciting, moving, hilarious and provocative piece of theatre. Kosar is clearly a talent to watch.
