Rhys John Edwards
In 1896, Cardiff crowds gathered to watch a 14-year-old girl with no prior experience or training – pilot a hot-air balloon! – so she could – parachute out of it?! – purely for the benefit of an egomaniacal lunatic who, incidentally, made sure his feet remained safely on the ground.
Sadly, this spectacle predictably ended in tragedy, with young Louisa Maud Evans’ body washing up at Nash Point in Newport three days later.
Doesn’t exactly scream children’s entertainment, does it? After all, a ‘family show’ ought to be a safe, crowd-pleaser. A glorified panto with a sprinkling of intellect for the Guardian-reading parents. Think Robin Hood with a few unsubtle nods to modern-day austerity between the puns.
But Balloon Girl’s scope is so broad and its ambition so bold, it feels like the kind of experimental show you hear about that almost got made. Each scene brings some new idiosyncrasy, some quirk of imagination or offbeat sense of humour.
You can almost smell the sweat of the anxious theatre exec gripping their red highlighter pen just a little too tightly.
McPake doesn’t simply dramatise the real-life story of Louisa Maud Evans; she fuses it with a fictional future in which a Welsh business tycoon is planning an expedition to Mars. Yes, you read that correctly. Buckle up.
Carol Ann Gaudron, descendant of Eugene Gaudron (the man who manipulated Louisa into undertaking the fatal stunt back in 1896) is eager to follow in her great-great-uncle’s footsteps by using an untrained civilian to pilot her rocket to the stars.
Naturally, she soon receives a visit from Louisa’s ghost (Christmas Carol-style) who attempts to intercept the launch and prevent history from repeating itself.
Actually, referencing A Christmas Carol feels a little reductive because McPake expands on the premise so immensely. It’s a bit like overlooking the subversive wit of The Princess Bride by citing Romeo and Juliet as its primary influence simply because it has a scene with kissing.
This play’s influences are much closer to Time Bandits or Horrible Histories. Its boundless, scatty plot continually reinvents itself, jumping between time periods like a TARDIS that’s recently failed its MOT.
There is a risk, of course, that all this could become overwhelming for its young audience, but McPake clearly believes that children deserve more credit, a quality she shares with every truly great writer of children’s stories.
Nowhere is this belief more clearly demonstrated than in a genuinely horrifying sequence set in a dystopian future, in which our heroes face certain death at the hands of a terrifying gang. Did this frighten some of the younger children in the audience? Perhaps briefly. More likely, it was their favourite bit. This kind of playful horror tends to unsettle the parents more than the children.
Mari Fflur is captivating as Louisa. Sprightly, adventurous and naively optimistic, she ensures these eccentricities are endearing rather than grating. In a lesser actor’s hands, Louisa could have easily been Scrappy-Doo.
Elin Phillips plays modern-day ‘disruptor’ Carol Ann Gaudron, a woman who lists Musk, Branson and Bezos as her contemporaries without shame. The only quicker way to let the audience know how hateful she is would be to show her kicking a puppy.
Phillips does a fine job of making Carol a likeable enough antihero though, allowing enough glimpses of humanity beneath her entrepreneurial arrogance to make her inevitable redemption feel justified.
Then there is Oliver Wood, playing a time-travelling, talking seagull. Again, I promise you read that correctly. Wood is wonderful, most notably in the way he combines the recognisable screeches of a seagull with a Welsh accent, two things which, surprisingly, complement one another more than you might expect.
Keiron Self shines as ever in a succession of amusing roles, while also bringing a sinister charm to Professor Eugene Gaudron. François Pandolfo is remarkable too, throwing himself into numerous characters with real comic versatility.
Balloon Girl is also visually spectacular. At times, it’s practically cinematic. The efforts of designer Hayley Grindle, lighting designer Andy Pike and sound designer Josh Bowles combine video, animation, lighting and sound to create a technical marvel.
It’s easy to see what attracted writer and director Hannah McPake to this unique historical event. It is a little-known but rich episode from Cardiff’s past, and it has great potential for its central tragedy to be reframed as an inspiring tale of a young female pioneer. Not to mention, the whole thing plays out as a neat allegory for the way the rich and powerful continue to gamble with the lives of others in the name of ‘progress’.
And yes, the show’s swipes at Silicon Valley, AI and the relentless pursuit of growth may be a little complicated for a young audience to interpret, but then again, these are issues which will inevitably play a part in all of their futures.
There’s enough disposable fun here to keep the confused engaged, but for those that take it all in, these themes will no doubt make a profound impact.
So, if such a nervous theatre exec did actually exist, I applaud their bravery in resisting the temptation to water this show down.
They may well have inspired not just a future generation of theatre-makers, but a group of engaged young people who now understand the cost of progress for progress’s sake and with any luck, will always think twice before pushing that big red button.
Balloon Girl is playing at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff till 24 October. For more information, visit: https://www.shermantheatre.co.uk/event/balloon-girl/
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