Venue 3 at Spaces on the Mile, (Radisson hotel) is the perfect space for this smart comedy by John Godber, the award-winning, veteran Edinburgh Fringe playwright.
As the audience files in, the auditorium is lined with several rows of neat black chairs, arranged on three sides of the stage floor. In the centre, two men in business suits sit in a row of identical seats, looking bored, checking watches. We are all in an Airport Departure lounge.
The passengers are Jim and Steve, (40-something, Company directors), waiting for a delayed flight. Over the tannoy, we hear regular incomprehensible announcements in garbled, gobbledygook Spanish, Czech, Dutch, but never clear English. Their flight is then cancelled. “Have another drink!” suggests Steve to the already inebriated Jim, who, it is slowly revealed, has a fear of flying.
Flying between Heathrow and Barcelona, Schiphol and Prague, Steve spends his lost airport hours phoning various girlfriends and mistresses; while stranded in Brussels, “Good Guy” Jim, (married to Claire for 23 years), tries not to be seduced by his sexy young PA, Zoe.
Dialogue between colleagues, husband and wife, airline personnel, is a blend of pin-sharp banter, humorous snatches of mobile conversations and shorthand jargon, “Are you flying KLM to LAX.?” But as the flight delays lengthen with unexpected hotel overnights, the complexity of their business and personal relationships develops in various twists and turns.
John Godber’s realistic play is truthful and topical (ash cloud, strikes) - certainly the basis for a situation comedy television series. If you have experienced the hassle and frustration of air travel, flight delays and waiting hours in an airport, you will love this sparkling romantic drama.
Presenting their debut production in Edinburgh, the cast of nine young students (aged just 15 – 19) from 360 Youth Theatre, Middlesex, is simply outstanding - especially Jonathan Taylor and Billy Askew as Jim and Steve – all acting with a natural, mature confidence, astute characterisation and comic timing.
Show times
22 - 27 August, 11.30
Ticket prices
£5. (£3)