Review: Wings (at the Young Vic)

by Daniel Hill

Wings was written originally as a radio play by Arthur Kopit - it is about a stroke victim who is nursed backed to health with the memory of her hobby of wing-walking. 

Emily Stilson was played by Juliet Stevenson (who has recently impressed as Gertrude in Hamlet as well as playing both Elizabeth and Mary in Mary Stuart). She succeeded in giving us an even better performance as Mrs Stilson.

The play is set in America and gives us an insight into what a stroke victim feels like as she is going through her therapy. This journey that we are given makes an audience member realise the true struggles that victims go through daily and this is added to by some breathtaking acting and interesting use of lighting, sound and set. The initial lack of understanding that we have of Emily gives us little knowledge of her past but, as the play progresses alongside her health, we begin to feel a human connection and sympathy is supplied by the audience. The memoirs that are portrayed through our main actress go deep into her flying past during monologues which bring tears to the audience’s eyes.

The play was directed by Natalie Abrahami who staged this piece in an unconventional way (if written on paper). I would assume most people would agree with me if I said I would have never thought that having the lead actress of a play in the air for 75 percent of the performance would be successful, let alone provide us with a moving performance which exceeded all expectations. The parallelism between the way the play was staged in the air and the connection between Mrs Stilson and wing walking created an extra layer to the piece. The use of the moving platform and its use as a screen also added to the whole play. I also enjoyed the use of the curtains on either side which helped to often blur the action and gave the creative team a suitable place for projections to be projected.

Juliet Stevenson’s performance was both marvellous and emotional. She completely steals the show as we see the struggle of a stroke victim through her eyes. The use of flight in this piece gives us a perspective of how this helps the character fight to return to reality. This is something we begin to accept will never happen. Her acrobatic skills whilst in the air provided many awe-inspiring moments as she managed to turn in circles repeatedly. Her final monologue brought tears streaming out the audience’s eyes as she thanked us for listening to her story.

Overall, this inspirational production told us that there is nothing wrong with taking risk when directing on stage. Simultaneously we were told a story of sadness and confusion. Well done to all involved and, as the last line of the play says: thank you. Thank you for re-imagining this play as a refreshing tale which was told in a spellbinding way by the team at the Young Vic. 

Congratulations.