An Air Balloon Across Antarctica
Three To A Room
Holden Street Theatres
21 Feb - 16 March


When I tell you that this play is narrated by a hamster (who wishes to be a lemming) you're going to think this is a wacky, zany Fringe show that may be amusing but is hardly proper theatre. Wrong. Darragh Martin's play explores what it is that sustains us, and what finally breaks us.

The hamster as device works brilliantly, and it tempers the shocking hurt that grips the characters, that tears out their hearts. Introducing famous explorers (Shackleton, Earhart and Scott) as sub narrators does not work so well, and towards the end they are an interruption to the otherwise clever unfolding of the scenes, as we discover by 'flashback' just why this woman and the obese hamster are travelling across Antarctica in a hot air balloon.

Sophie Lampel as Ham (the hamster/lemming) has a wonderfully expressive face, and is immediately captivating. Paul David-Goddard as James has a loose casual approach, but shows his mettle when he ensures that there isn't a dry eye in the house, including his own. Claire Glenn is both passionate and cool as Caitlin, the explorer who had settled down, but is now looking for a "blank space".

"An Air Balloon..." isn't easy theatre, and thank goodness for that. There needs to be more adventurous work of this calibre to carve our way through the mire of comedy. See this. Festivals aren't just about the laughter.

Arna Eyers-White