Airport Purgatory

        Almost every time I see a play or musical I come out of the theatre thinking that it is the best play or musical I’ve ever seen. Departure Lounge was no exception, I loved every bit of it. The play depicts four recently graduated teenage boys who are waiting in the airport for their delayed flight back to England after a week long vacation in Spain. Thinking back on the week, they try to recount what happened each night and find that many of their stories are filled with gaps and are often quite conflicting. Many of their stories involve flashbacks and asides about Sophie, this girl who they met in Spain and who creates quite a controversy among the friends. These friends are forced to think about their identity as a group and as individuals now that summer is over and they’re on their way towards different paths as they wait for their plane. 

It’s a musical so of course, the cast frequently broke out into song. The music was great and nearly every song included some choreography that would not look out of place at a 90s boy band concert. The songs, and the musical itself, were humorous and had the audience constantly laughing. At times the storyline was dramatic and serious but it surprisingly seemed to fit within this comedy. My favorite songs were one in which the four boys explain why they call each other gay as an insult, and one in which they describe themselves as halfway between who they are and who they will be. Two musicians dressed as pilots played on stage as the five person cast sang beautiful harmonies. I was entirely in awe of their voices. It was also amazing to see a professional theatre production with actors that are my age. 

The small Waterloo East Theatre was the perfect theatre for the musical. Many times throughout the play trains could be heard passing overhead, and while this would have been a distraction during any other play, it fit perfectly with Departure Lounge. The set consisted of only four airport chairs and two airport signs but the play doesn’t need any more than that. The actors did a fabulous job using the stage by dancing around and standing on the chairs. The actors were great in their roles and I absolutely loved the musical.

--Mandy Licata