Air Oceania Flight A011

From writer and director Lexi Love-Dack and producer James Hills comes a charming play about an entrepreneur, a young beauty therapist, a middle-aged mother, a gay couple and the two flight attendants who tolerate them aboard a turbulent flight from Melbourne to LA. Dryly humourous and effortlessly engaging, the play handles its themes of love, class, racism, homophobia and social etiquette among strangers in a light-hearted yet nonetheless realistic manner. The characters, while colourful, resemble ordinary people you'd meet down the street, and to observe their interactions feels like sneaky people-watching. A minor criticism is that they almost seem too typical – nowhere near to the point of caricature, just exactly the way you'd expect them to be. A simple stage setting manages to recreate the lack of personal space on planes; the cramped seating in economy class is represented by the actors having to awkwardly climb over one another to go to the toilet. There are no theatrics, far-fetched plot devices or gimmicks here; just honest, reflective storytelling, with natural and familiar (but not contrived) dialogue. Through these transient relationships formed in confined spaces, lessons are learned, minds are enlightened, and everyone learns a little bit more about themselves. By the play's conclusion, the audience perhaps feel like they've developed friendships with these characters, too.

Running at Revolt Melbourne until Sunday 7 October