Daniel Gronner (Stage Manager, Technician).
Even if you have never experienced a flight on board a Low-Cost, No Frills airline, you will have a fair idea of the "pack ‘em in like sardines" space and extra charges for food, drink and hold luggage. As someone who prefers turning left on Emirates or sitting upstairs in BA Business class, Budget travel is definitely not for me!
But in order to write this review of “Buckle Up”, I had to suffer the indignity of stepping on board a Budge-It Air Boeing 737 aircraft on Monday. The flight departs daily at 12.45, and the glamorously smart Crew do advise passengers to board in good time or you may have to sit separately from accompanying friends and family. I was shown to an aisle seat as the rows quickly filled up. “Put your bag under your seat!” Cressida, the tall, blonde air hostess, told me brusquely.
We are then informed about the lunch menu (Chicken with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, or the option of Potatoes for vegetarians) and the special offer of 4 for the price of 3 toilet tokens. After a bing-bong Tannoy announcement to welcome us on board, we then hear Cressida chatting to Cecil, a new and very nervous air steward about her wild partying with the Captain the night before.
“Where is the Captain?" demands Lisa, the very bossy, Head Girl of a Supervisor, suggesting the crew serve drinks to keep us passengers happy due to the delay in take off.
Be prepared for a fully immersive drama taking place around the Aircraft , complete with a Trolley selling perfume and Toblerone, and a swishing curtain leading to the cockpit. This is no plot spoiler, but you can be assured of a fast paced comedy involving a Hi-jacking Terrorist and a great deal of physical violence - slapstick style.
Like the ideal suitcase, the plot is feather-light weight; the show needs rounded characters not caricatures, an elaborated narrative and more interaction with the passengers. A cargo load of hilarity here, but lacks the sharp satirical wit of The High Life with Forbes Masson and Alan Cumming, the BBC situation comedy about Scotia Airlines.
However, for a 50 minute Fringe show, like Airplane! the movie, "Buckle Up" is a brilliantly performed, riotous farce of a show which takes off and soars with supersonic speed.
Show times
17 – 29 August, 2015 @ 12.45pm.
Ticket prices: £8 (£6), £20 - Family