It’s probably an unavoidable fact of both the Fringe, and art in general, that the world has a lot of lockdown fever to get out of its system.
Pretending to Fly tells a story of a pair of flatmates who balance on the brink of goodbye as 2020’s lockdown is about to lift. Frances and Kaitlyn have clearly had enough, both of each other and of the confinement. Still, on one last sunny evening on the roof of their New York building, they rekindle a little bit of friendship and understanding as they reminisce about a woman whose story touched their lives.
There’s a lot to like in the concept behind Pretending to Fly, as the chalk and cheese pair, an actor and a historian, recite and recount to each facts and theories about the life of Carla Horowitz, a pioneering Woman Air Service Pilot (or WASP). Through play-acting, as well as the use of some sunglasses, deckchairs and small lights, they giggle and nod through her fascinating story. There’s also a lot of the script devised through real quotes and conversations, which is always a nice touch.
The problem with the piece is that the pair themselves don’t ever really endear themselves to the audience. They begin hostile to each other, and the conceit of the play doesn’t ever really ring true in the way it builds bridges. It’s hard to believe that this pair were ever actually friends. As well as that, the bickering dialogue has a nasty habit of leaving sentences dangling in an unrealistic way, or just having more than a touch of the contrived about it. This is also a problem in the all too on-the-nose themes.
It’s a nice effort, let down by being a little too in love with itself and its own ideas.