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Toxic Romance Takes Flight in Dark Space Musical
10 Apr
Summary
- A dark musical explores a toxic, time-travelling romance between two individuals.
- The production features soaring songs and epic, interstellar projections.
- The narrative structure is non-sequential, revealing past traumas and emotional damage.
The Southwark Playhouse Borough presents "Flyby," a dark musical by Theo Jamieson and Adam Lenson, exploring the emotional fallout of a mutually destructive relationship. The narrative begins with an astronaut's disappearance in space, leading into a chopped-up backstory of his tumultuous relationship with Emily.
This drama delves into formative traumas, showing how Daniel, bullied as a child, is drawn to Emily, who carries guilt from her parents' actions. The direction emphasizes visceral rawness in their scenes, complemented by soaring songs and epic, strange production elements.
Despite its ambition and moments of brilliance, the musical has imperfections. Its non-sequential structure can make narrative purpose feel disjointed, and the "stranded in space" metaphor is overstretched. The storytelling also shifts focus from Daniel to Emily, and the narrators' commentary includes digressive scenes.
"Flyby" shows promise, with potential to become a standout musical akin to "Next to Normal" or "Dear Evan Hansen" with further refinement.
