Black Box 149
April 25 – May 13
A Western commercial aircraft, passengers and crew are captured during Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. A nightmarish journey begins. An exploration of how terror impacts the lives of civilians when governments betray them for the purposes of war.
Written and Directed by Rosemary Johns
Performed by Dion Mills and Osamah Sami
Wed, Sun 6.30pm | Thu – Sat 7.30pm
Matinees: Wed 1.00pm (not April 25) & Thu 11.00am
La Mama Courthouse 349 Drummond Street, Carlton
Tickets $25 Full | $15 Concession
School tickets: $30 per person (performance, script and after-show forum)
Script: included in school ticket; extra scripts available at the theatre.
Duration: 90 minutes (plus 20 minute forum)
Please contact Maureen Hartley for School Bookings:
maureen (at) lamama.com.au
The Age Review by Tim Richards
**** “The media’s revisiting of the events of September 11 was a confirmation of the enduring power of fear.
Black Box 149 explores similar territory, as a commercial aircraft’s passengers and crew are captured during its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. For the pilot, played powerfully by Dennis Coard, it’s the start of a nightmarish journey as a hostage – but he also has a secret that could expose the British government’s cynical use of his aircraft as a cover for military activity. These events are described by the paranoid pilot years later, fearful for his life.
Black Box 149 is a tightly paced drama with a gripping dash of thriller.”
Melbourne Observer Review by Maggie Morrison
“This production is often bleak and intense. We watch the protagonist, the pilot of Fight BA 149 from London , struggle to avoid crumbling, during and after the grounding of his aircraft in Kuwait. Simultaneously , Saddam Hussein’s armies have invaded and brutalize the country.
The minimalist set – a black box plus two chairs and audio visual equipment – reflects the suspicious removal of the aeroplane’s black box before the flight from London. This black space is now filled with a stream of consciousness from the confused, captured pilot, desperately wanting to save his plane, passengers and himself. He can find no answers to his dangerous situation and begins to mix immediate professional stresses with personal ones.
Theatrical dimension is added by a second actor, The Man, transforming variously into insidious interrogator, native helper, Arabic musician.
Based on a true event at the beginning of the Gulf Wars, Rosemary Johns’ script is a psychological exploration of nasty impacts of war. The script complexities were not always successfully realized, but there are big statements being made here about how governments act regarding wars, and more importantly why they act……”
