Flights For Future Generations theatre review: Reflective refuge
Spirituality, memory, and aviation are tied together in this immersive and artistic pocket of peace
It’s in the early mornings and the quiet corners where you can stumble into absorbing, beautifully crafted performances that encapsulate the Fringe. They take risks, punch outside the mould and cross trans-media boundaries. Flights For Future Generations, a solo performance that functions more like a living art installation than a conventional piece of theatre, is devised and performed by Lindsey Barlag Thornton. This meditative hour that draws inspiration from women aviators and told from an ancestral suitcase, weaves together physical movement, object theatre and soundscapes to explore themes of flight, memory and spiritualism.
The production excels in its evocative atmosphere. Utilising vintage slide projectors, flickering candlelight and recorded messages, the staging creates a captivating intimacy that genuinely rewards patient viewing. Where the piece falters, however, is in its structural momentum. Operating without a clear narrative spine, but rather the flickers of individual vignettes, it feels overextended. A tighter editorial is missing to make the most of the haunting visual moments and to hold back on elements that leave the audience drifting. But as a gentle, reflective early-morning refuge from the surrounding clamour around town, it remains an intriguing, well-crafted experiment in artistic mood and collective memory.
Flights For Future Generations, Zoo Playground, until 30 August, 10.15am; picture: Claire Demos.