Float is a one-person show by writer and performer Indra Wilson. It’s about pregnancy and miscarriage, and uses space travel, NASA and the Apollo programmes as the extended metaphor and euphemism for motherhood.
The analogy is easy to handle; the boyfriend is called NASA, sex is described as ‘fitness training’, and pregnant women are astronauts. The show opens with Indra in a space suit, and the stage is lit in a moody, smoky way, reminiscent of a David Bowie music video.
This is the story of someone who is fascinated with the unknown and exploration, and has also always sought motherhood as long as they can remember. Their own mother is delighted when our narrator announces their pregnancy. The boyfriend, not so much; NASA abandons its astronaut to go on the nine-month mission on their own.
The show is a lyrical and mesmerising monologue on humanity’s journey into the unknown. The space exploration metaphor is incredibly well used. Indra peppers the performance with various effects, both physical and verbal.
This is also a story of loss, specifically miscarriage, and it is utterly devastating, Indra communicating the heartbreak effortlessly to a teary-eyed audience. The consequent discovery of hope, allies, friends and lovers is all the more underlined by the loss.
This is a personal story, well told. From the insistence that Astronaut Barbie was the first American astronaut to a brilliantly managed scene involving the Apollo missions, there’s a lot for fans of space fiction to take in here, and the performance is both gentle and brutal at the same time.
Float is brilliant. A must-see.
You can book tickets for the Edinburgh Fringe show here and learn more about F-Bomb and their future shows here.
