Southwark Playhouse – until 23 November 2024
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Musicals about grief aren’t always uplifting, but this new musical soars with emotion and acceptance.
Fifteen-year-old Malia (Robyn Rose-Li) dreams of being a writer, but an idyllic summer at writing camp soon sours, with her YA story Fly More Than You Fall, about a bird with broken wings trying to get to the top of a mountain, being mocked as a children’s book by the other campers. Reality hits even harder when her parents arrive with the tragic news that Malia’s mother Jennifer (Keala Settle) has stage 4 cancer and she returns home for one last summer together.
Malia’s mother is a teacher and, despite her failing health, continues to critique and encourage Malia to complete her story. The first act deals with Malia and her father’s (Cavin Cornwall) anticipatory grief as they struggle with their need to care for Jennifer and make her remaining time comfortable, and their anger that she is leaving them. This grief is evident in Malia’s writing as the bird Willow (Maddison Bulleyment) and her companion Flynn (Edward Chitticks) struggle to deal with each other’s emotions.
There is no need to see Jennifer’s death in this show – the absence she leaves in Malia and her father’s lives is the crucial point. Act 2 begins at the funeral, and the darker tone and slower ballads jar with the few upbeat numbers brilliantly, depicting the puddle jumping that young teenagers can still experience as they navigate their feelings. Writers Eric Holmes and Nat Zegree wisely choose not to have Keala Settle appear with supernatural/dream advice for Malia as this would cheapen and Disneyfy Malia’s journey. Instead, Malia stutters and takes false turns after the funeral but finds a way to begin healing thanks to sound (and often hilarious) advice from her writing friend Caleb (Max Gill) with a delightful running joke about messaging and emojis never getting old. Malia and her father appear to grow apart after Jennifer’s death, portrayed by fine physical acting from Cornwall and Rose-Li, and the moments of anger and cruelty hit hard, but also ring true. As Malia and her father begin to find common ground and accept that they have a long way to go, Willow’s story gets wrapped up and Willow risks leaving the mountain. This may seem simplistic, but Willow’s story is supposed to have been written by a teenager, and this is an easily accessible representation of Malia’s feelings – and Bulleyment and Chitticks are absolutely fabulous.
Stewart J. Charlesworth’s pastel-coloured set – a representation of wings made from hundreds of sheets of writing paper – and the bright costumes may lull you into thinking that this is a schmaltzy show for children, but the emotional heart is much more sophisticated. Holmes and Zegree have written a beautiful story about loss, grief and how there is no Hero’s Journey guidebook to follow in real life. The songs are fantastic, with the title song reprised many times to great effect as an inspirational/celebratory mantra. There is teenage attitude and snark scattered throughout the show and Holmes and Zegree highlight the dramatic egocentricity of teens in the fabulous song The Worst. Under Christian Durham’s assured direction, the incredible cast soar. Max Gill is a comic wonder, winning the audience with their facial reactions before uttering a word and providing a bucketful of heart when Malia is struggling, and Keala Settle is as brilliant as you would expect – with vocals that effortlessly convey the pain of her character, and her songs with Robyn Rose-Li are the highlights of the show. Rose-Li’s performance is wonderful – full of emotion and fragility – and that voice!
Full of heart and hope, Fly More Than You Fall is a touching and insightful musical, beautifully staged and performed by a stellar cast. Unmissable.