Fly More Than You Fall – Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Keala Settle and Robyn Rose-Li in Fly More Than You Fall at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London. Picture: Craig Fuller

Fly More Than You Fall continues at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London until 23 November 2024.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

If accolades were being given out purely based on a cast’s unflagging exuberance and enthusiasm, then Fly More Than You Fall, a new musical with book and lyrics by Eric Holmes and music and lyrics by Nat Zegree, would receive some well-deserved creative commendations. With a simple, colourful but effective set putting a smile on your face as soon as you enter, this production immediately sets an energetic pace, one that hardly flags throughout, driven by a mostly very young cast led by the impressively assured Robyn Rose-Li in the role of Malia. 

Just when her life and the lives of all her young friends around her seem nigh on perfect, her mother, Jennifer, is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The cruelty of her chemotherapy treatment slowly takes its toll and impacts hugely on all those around her. The ripples of despair from someone suffering from cancer spread far and wide, of course, and there’s a dark, yet uplifting performance from Keala Settle as Malia’s mum, Jennifer and from Cavin Cornwall as her father, Paul.

As good as this young cast is, you do, at times feel like you’re watching an afternoon children’s TV programme and it needs the balance of the older generation to stop this feeling like some sort of musical Blue Peter episode – thankfully, both Cornwall and Settle provide the perfect adult antidote to the seemingly boundless youthful energy. 

Directed by Christian Durham, the score is solid – so while you’re unlikely to be humming any of the songs again on the way home, there are some genuinely moving numbers as Malia finds solace in writing and creates an imaginary world where an equally fragile and vulnerable bird mirrors her struggles. There’s a lovely, touching performance here from Maddison Bulleyment as Willow, a character that could have so easily lacked credibility if not so ably played. But, Bulleyment is pretty much perfect. 

With Act I setting the bar high and then the despair of the death of Malia’s mother adding some desperately dark drama, the expectation is that this production still holds plenty of creative surprises. Unfortunately, that doesn’t transpire, as while this story of personal triumphs over adversity does pull at the emotional heartstrings, there’s a somewhat familiar feel to the whole production and its somewhat formulaic uplifting ending. 

A few less predictable twists and turns would have been welcome – and a lot fewer references to emojis! (bored face).

Derek Smith