The Flower that Fell from the Sky, Feet First Collective and Little y ·
The Blue Room Theatre, 7 December 2022 ·

Climate anxiety and the power of home are the subjects of The Flower that Fell from the Sky, a new work from French playwright Heloise Wilson, making its debut at The Blue Room Theatre.

In this play, presented by Perth’s Feet First Collective and New York film and theatre company Little y, three siblings feel the malaise of the modern world amidst a post-apocalyptic, not-too-distant future. Macha (Mischa Ipp), Olga (Dylan Dorotich) and Andrei (Samuel Addison) live together in a large city. When Olga loses her sense of smell, they search for memory and hope by journeying to the place of their upbringing.

The Flower that Fell From the Sky is loosely based on the Anton Chekhov play Three Sisters, drawing on the century-old work not only through its exploration of sibling relationships in the face of absent parents, but particularly in the creation of a powerful longing to return to a former home.

As in the Chekhov play, nostalgia works as an anchor, pulling the characters towards the place of their childhood. In the dystopian near-future of The Flower that Fell from the Sky, malaise and eco-anxiety create a need for change. The play speaks to our contemporary climate emergency while its Chekhov references remind us that dissatisfaction is not a modern malady.

On opening night Ipp, Dorotich and Addison all gave solid performances as the sibling trio and the cast’s adept use of puppets delivered some magical moments. Director and movement coach Teresa Izzard has incorporated physical theatre, which the team executed beautifully, gifting us welcome pauses for reflection.

Lauren Beeton marries futuristic soundscapes with melodic, aural seascapes for some impeccable sound design, while bold and purposeful lighting design from Dylan Dorotich hits the mark too. Then Izzard invites us to employ our sense of smell to create a multi-sensory performance. Since the narrative hinged on olfactory sensation, I would have loved even more of this.

While each character embarks on a journey to find themselves, their characterisation in the story is superficial. For me, the script covered a bit too much ground in its 60 minutes and consequently delivery sounded rushed. While this compounded a sense of unease that’s present in the narrative, it also left me lost at times.

Despite this, scene transitions were sharp and seamless and Samuel Addison’s spartan cardboard set evocative. A wall of boxes, each painted the same shade of grey, is a nameless, faceless city. Its homogeneity and lifelessness, towering over the characters, is punctuated with paper pops of colour: multicoloured raindrops, flowers and a bird.

The paper world is uncharacteristically recyclable for a futuristic tale, optimistically so. In fact, The Flower that Fell from the Sky is a story with hope at the core, relevant to adult and teenage audiences. Despite some deficiencies, I appreciated this sweet meditation on the power of going back in order to move forwards.

The Flower that Fell from the Sky continues at The Blue Room Theatre until 10 December.

Pictured top: Samuel Addison as Andre. Photo: John Congear