"Air Travel" Soars to Success

A play about a family feud and a lack of communication, “The Thing About Air Travel,” which ran through Saturday at the Loeb Ex, opened by focusing on the elephant in the room: a dog. Directed by Jacob A. Brandt ’14 and supported by strong acting from all the players, the show explored the drama of dealing with death. With frequent moments of humor, the production provided adequate time to think about and appreciate the deep and well-expressed themes at work in this very entertaining performance.

In the show, a young woman, Marie (Maya M. Park ’16), is forced to fly home from Kenya when she gets an urgent call from her mom saying that her brother, Franklin (Bryan D. Kauder ’14), has died. Though coping with death can be complicated, the tragedy becomes particularly challenging when Marie sees her brother on the plane in the form of a dog. Limited to barking at one another, both struggle to express feelings of regret at the lack of communication that had existed between them while Franklin was alive.

The new play written by the young Max Posner, deals with an ironic aspect of the young adult generation—that a greater emphasis on globalization may actually make it easier for us to avoid each other. Marie, who always felt estranged from her mother, proves this theory true when she escapes her family ftroubles by moving to Kenya.

It takes an interaction with an unnamed older woman (Ema H. Horvath ’16) sitting next to Marie on the plane for her to begin to make strides toward greater communication with her family. Though the conversations begin awkwardly—with the old woman making statements such as "You have very nice breasts"—ultimately it is this strange situation that helps Marie to learn the barking language that Franklin uses and allows her to reconcile their previously lost relationship.

Throughout the play, clever and well-timed sound effects, designed by Brandt and Paris K. Y. Ellsworth ’15, helped to portray Marie’s inner thoughts. The story began and ended with vibrant African music ringing through the air, reflecting the happiness Marie found at her home abroad. During the troubling ride, though, frequently all sound was cut off, heightening the intensity of Marie’s internal struggle. Similarly, set designers Brandt and Daniel J. Prosky '16 drew attention to the main character’s personal struggle and isolation by using just two plane seats as the set pieces on a raised platform; since Marie is strapped into her seat and forced to sit for the entire airplane ride, she has no choice but to think about Franklin and her troubling relations back home.

Madeleine F. Bersin ’14 and Garrett C. Allen ’16 further illuminated the character interactions and family dynamics with their effective lighting design. Spotlights pointed out two distant figures on the side of the stage: the somewhat irrational mom and the humorous dad. Presenting those minor characters as present but separate from Marie on the plane ride set up an important contrast to the dead brother who repeatedly comes back to Marie.

“Air Travel” soared, thanks to a combination of great directing, effective sound design, and bold yet simple lighting that successfully conveyed the idea that communication is necessary for recovery from grief. The play came full circle and concluded by affirming this theme; the whirl of hallucinations, introspection, and intriguing conversations culminated in a beautiful scene where Marie and Franklin came together to produce a cathartic, canine howl.