Theatre
Shooting Star
St James Cavalier
While life is often described as an ever-changing linear journey, many speculate about the possibilities that were missed along the way.
It is a romantic comedy but, what makes it so good, is that it does not have the expected, stereotypical ending
The near-misses, the could-have-beens, the roads not taken and the ones that got away: all these are what sometimes keep us awake at night.
FM Theatre’s production of Steven Dietz’s 2008 bittersweet romantic comedy Shooting Star, staged last weekend, explored precisely this lingering feeling of what might have been between two old flames after a chance encounter at an airport.
Stranded in Huston Airport during a terrible storm, Reed McAllistair and Elena Carson, played by Edward Mercieca and Taryn Butler, first recognise and then attempt to avoid each other after more than a 20-year estrangement.
Failing to get out of a potentially embarrassing and awkward encounter, Reed concedes to speak to Elena, who has been dying to be noticed. For a two-hander to work, both actors must maintain a solid pace and work the stage through thorough character study, keeping the audience engaged by means of a strong interpretation of the script rather than relying as much on plot; and in this instance, Mercieca and Butler managed to achieve this incredibly well, thanks to their excellent performances.
Mercieca’s Reed was the typical cynical middle-aged man whose mid-40s persona had developed very differently from the idealistic and relaxed young man he used to be. His memory certainly proved to be in top condition following his recent performance less than six weeks ago in another two-hander.
Butler’s Elena has mellowed from the young radical hippie to a more tolerant earth-mother figure who harbours a hidden need to satisfy her maternal instinct. And indeed, the two characters reveal as much about their individual desires and familiar situations as they do about their regrets on lost love. Her clarity and wit were matched by his acute observations and resigned good humour in a make-the-best-of-it attitude.
What makes both Mercieca’s and Butler’s performances so enjoyable and credible is the fact that they are so natural – poking fun at certain traits and flaws that people inevitably pick up over the years and laden with a slightly jaded perspective on life which most middle-aged people tend to develop as a matter of course.
What is so great about Deitz’s script is that it explores not the mere rekindling of passion but analyses what happened in the interim – the bigger picture – effectively.
These are two people whose trajectories crossed and whose stars collided, if briefly, but it’s what they left in their wake, in the tail of their shooting stars, that really matters.
It is a romantic comedy but, what makes it so good is that it does not have the expected, stereotypical ending, but a much more realistic, down-to-earth resolution.
Chris Gatt, who directs as well as took care of the set and lighting design, helps navigate the performance into a situation which makes the most of the acting space with a simple and realistic set, while the tight direction makes for a very credible organic development in the two characters’ interactions.
Shooting Star is an excellent study of human relationships and makes a very pleasant evening out.
• Shooting Star is also being staged at St James on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm.