Two strangers board a plane to fly from London to Los Angeles, one is lucky and the other unlucky.
Although for lucky Jay his good fortune might just have run out. Or has it? What follows is a look at the very nature of luck itself.
Things get off to a bumpy start when the aircraft experiences turbulence, but fortunately for nervous first-time flyer Jayme she is seated next to seasoned traveller Jay, and he does his best to reassure her that it’s normal and that it’s significantly more likely to fall in love than die in an air crash.
This takes on more significance when the captain announces that there is a serious problem and the cabin attendant screams “brace, brace, brace, brace!” as hand luggage rains and oxygen masks drop from overhead bins.
As their lives flash before them they share their stories of love and luck. Their fortune or lack thereof is measured both in everyday tiny things and the epic, the outcomes often comically unlikely. Already Jayme is blaming herself for their current misadventure, as her life has been marked by freakish accidents. Jay on the opposing side has been blessed by a seemingly magical Midas touch, but money can’t buy him love and luck doesn’t always seem to rub off.
The action circles between the chaotic scenes on the imperilled aircraft and their newly shared memories played out with objects drawn slickly from beneath a desk or from cases which open to reveal landscape backdrops. Shelves provide more “scenery”, while the set is dotted with numbered markers, like the site of a forensic examination. Whiteboard “lectures” break the pace slightly but are worthwhile in imparting information on how contradictory forces keep planes in the air and how opposites depend on the other for meaning and existence.
The tabletop world building is not as magical as seen in Backup, but it is no less meticulous, carried by sharp writing, spirited performances and excellent design.
Intimate and endearing, funny and moving it provides a playfully philosophical look at how we define ourselves and sometimes defy fate and gravity.
Show Times: 30 July to 24 (not 5, 12, 19) August 2025 at 5.40pm.
Tickets: £12.50 (£11.50) to £13.50 (£12.50).
Suitability: 14+ (Note - Contains distressing or potentially triggering themes. The show contains depictions of a plane crash).