A CONTROVERSIAL play based on transcripts from black
box flight recorders of doomed aircraft has attracted just one
complaint, despite being performed in the wake of September 11
terrorist attacks.
Charlie Victor Romeo, performed by the
New York-based Collective: Unconscious, had its Australian premiere
last night as part of the Perth International Arts Festival.
It uses the verbatim dialogue between pilots in six real-life
airline emergencies to create a tense and psychologically gripping
drama that enjoyed a sold-out run off Broadway in 2000.
Using a stark stage depicting the cockpit of an aircraft, the
performance revolves around the interaction between pilots as they
struggle to control disintegrating aircraft in the final minutes
before they crash.
PIAF director Sean Doran said he had received only one complaint
about his decision to include the play in the festival program, from
someone who thought it was insensitive in the wake of September 11.
"People have responded to it in a proper and mature way which I
think is a mark of respect from audiences here and what they're
looking to get from a festival," Mr Doran said.
"What it's about is the triumph of the human spirit against all
odds, and I think people appreciate that."
CVR co-creator Bob Berger rejects accusations the play is
deliberately sensationalist.
"The idea of sensationalism was something that we talked a lot
about," he said.
"My experience at the scene of a plane crash, when I was working
for CNN, was that it's all about spectacle for the media – it ends
up being something that's over-simplified and is represented to the
people as pictures of burning wreckage, pictures of the victims'
families.
"In Charlie Victor Romeo the spectacle of the disaster, the
sensation of what happened isn't there.
"You're seeing something that you don't think about when you hear
about plane crashes, which is the very personal, up-front human
experience of these people trying to survive."
He admits his theatre company Collective: Unconscious was nervous
about continuing the play in the wake of September 11, but believed
there was never any question of the show not going on.
In a statement issued a week after the attacks, the company said
"the best course of action for us is to throw ourselves into our
lives and work with renewed vigour, or else the goals of the
criminals responsible for these horrible tragedies will have been
achieved".
Mr Berger said he feared there may have been a backlash against
the show because of its jarring and confrontational nature, but that
didn't eventuate.
Airline pilots have flocked to see the play, as have survivors of
air disasters, including one of the pilots depicted in the play.
But probably the most surprising level of interest has come from
the US Air Force, which has taped the play to use as a training
video for air crews.
"We've been told this piece of theatre has the ability to save
people's lives, which for me has totally changed the way I think
about it – it's now incredibly important that it is performed," Mr
Berger said.
Charlie Victor Romeo plays in Perth until February
23.