FLIGHT
New York Premiere
March 23 - April 11, 2011
Made possible by a Creative Project Grant from the College of Arts & Sciences, University of South Carolina
Creative Team
- Conceived, directed by Steve Pearson
- Text by Robyn Hunt
- Costume design by Lisa Martin-Stuart
- Lighting design by Jeremy Winchester
- Sound design by Walter Clissen
- Asst direction, dramaturgy by Brian Hanscom
Performers
- Robyn Hunt
- Lee Fitzpatrick
- Jen Burry
- William Shuler
- Eric Bultman
Story
The setting: a Parisian suburb in 1913. Madeleine and Sophie, two young French aviatrixes, struggle to assemble a Bleriot XI monoplane to fly in a long distance competition from Paris to Moscow. Actresses by profession, the women have taken a short break from performing in Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL to visit their friend, mentor and former production manager, Jean Luc, because he has promised them resources that will enable them to fly; resources, it turns out, that they must literally put together. The two women are also the subjects of a documentary which is being made by a woman filmmaker as they work to prepare the plane. At a time when society considers flying a masculine endeavor and acting an unfavorable profession for a woman, will they succeed?
Robyn Hunt and Steven Pearson have created an intriguing, aerial theatrical work, a play about women fliers before World War I, based on real individuals and historic events of the early 20th century.
FLIGHT stars Lee Fitzpatrick as “Madeleine” and Jen Burry as “Sophie”, the two ambitious aviatrixes/actresses, Eric Bultman as “Jean Luc”, a former production manager and owner of the hangar where the women assemble the monoplane, Robyn Hunt as “Alisse” a documentary film maker and old friend of Jean Luc, and William Shuler as “Gerard”, a young actor in the theatre company who has accompanied the women on their weekend adventure.