Take Flight

To find out that you are going to a chocolate factory but there will be none of the sweet stuff can be disappointing. But when it is the Menier Chocolate Factory your sulk is quickly subdued.

Now a theatre, restaurant and gallery, this beautifully converted historic building provides first-class entertainment in intimate, rustic surroundings - all in SE1.

The current production – Take Flight -  is the world premiere of a new musical about the pioneers of flight and you are taken on a flight fantastic as soon as you arrive at the theatre.

Having booked a meal deal ticket, we sat down for a dinner of Southern US inspired food to celebrate the fact that the Wright Brothers first took to the air in North Carolina.
We then moved through to the intimate theatre to be greeted by a minimal, versatile set designed by David Farley.

New musicals can be cringe-worthy but with the talents of award winning composers Richard Maltby and David Shire, this was a hit from the opening number.
Comedy was interspersed with emotion and a wonderful score, which sets the show on the path to becoming a future classic, despite being an unusual subject for a musical.

But it is the actors that really make this production soar.

Elliot Levey and Sam Kenyon open the show as the Wright brothers and brilliantly portray these serious, determined innovators of early flight with  commitment, quirkiness and humour.

Clive Carter gives a credible performance as mathematician Otto Lillienthal -  whose work the Wright brothers used to design their craft -  and provides historical detail and background as a narrator, filling in the blanks seamlessly.

Michael Jibson plays Charles Lindbergh as an insecure, shy loner whose dream it is to fly solo across the Atlantic.

However the real emotion comes not from the individuals as they struggle to get into the air, but from the relationship between Amelia Earhart and her publisher husband George Putnam.

Sally Ann Triplett gives a sassy and determined performance as Amelia more caught up in her own dreams and desires than realising the love that she has at home.

While Ian Bartholomew, as George, shows his apprehension and worry without over-doing the caution.

While the action zigzags across different timelines – the Wright brothers taking to the air in 1903, Lindbergh flying the Spirit of St Louis to Paris in 1927 and Earhart becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932 – the true story is that  of the beauty and freedom of flight,: something that, despite the environmental consequences, the Western world has grown to love.

Menier Chocolate Factory, 51-53 Southwark Street, SE1 1RU. Take Flight is showing until September 22.

Belinda Wanis

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