Welcome to RAF Waddington, home of the “Chairforce”, where pilots operate drone aircraft to stalk the skies without ever leaving the ground.
From the safety of the bunker-like interior of a shipping container Squadron Leader Paddy “Beep” Atkinson-Ward overseas operations. Resolutely old-school, he is a former Typhoon fighter pilot grounded by g-forces and a dicky neck.
Rules of engagement are on his mind as he takes new flight officer Callum under his wing and also plans for his sister Hattie’s wedding. He is giving her away, and it seems to him, without a fight. She has been a constant in his life, the protective sibling who sheltered him in their childhood tree-house when he incurred the wrath of their father, “the great dictator”. As a child he wanted to play happy families, to marry her and even now he thought their dotage would be together.
He is married to the job and still has ambition, to move forwards, making the difference, giving the orders. But he still misses the gut visceral thrill of flying. Nowadays no-collateral rules have clipped his wings while terrorists use human shields. He and Callum seem to be from different worlds and as the conversation moves from adolescent banter to mission specifics, misgiving arise.
As the wedding nears, pressure and paranoia mount and the two sanitised, compartmentalised parts of his world bleed into each other. In the sanctuary of the old tree-house he might just be turning into an owl.
This is a highly watchable production which, while touching on ethical issues of physiological distancing, surveillance and culpability, focusses on the personal story of “Paddy-Boy”, as his sister calls him. A Peter Pan like figure who can fly but whom has never really grown up, nor emerged from the long shadow cast by his father.
Few companies put this amount of effort into productions and both the multi-layered set (incorporating video, projections and models), and performances are excellent. The topic has been explored before (notably in Gate Theatre’s Grounded), and here the ending attempts to target too many ideas, losing the elegance of the piece. The theme of transformation to owl doesn’t fully take flight.
Show Times: 3 – 29 (not 15) August 2016 at 3.10pm.
Tickets: £8 (£7) to £10 (£9).
Suitability: 16+