Review: Review: Lost and Finding at Flight Path Theatre

Review by Grace Swadling

From the brainchild of Emma Van Veen, whose own personal experiences have informed and shaped this production, Liminal Productions presents ‘Lost and Finding’, promising an “immersive, fantasy-comedy adventure (with puppets)”...and boy, does it deliver on all of those fronts. In collaboration with Puppet Maker/Director George Wohlfiel, this production is a perfect example of inventive, independent theatre that deserves to be championed and celebrated. 

‘Lost and Finding’ follows Cassie Shore, a struggling comedian who falls through a portal whilst on hold with Centrelink and finds herself in the world of Lost Things – “a magical realm that’s filled with ridiculous creatures and danger lurking around every corner.” From the very beginning of the production, the tone is set perfectly, as the audience literally becomes part of the action and the immersion in Cassie's world begins in the foyer. The cast and crew have done an amazing job in building the world of the play; one that has almost absolutely no sense of time, meaning or place but one that is magical, otherworldly and theatrical. 

Walking in, the atmosphere was electric. This production has flipped the use of the space on its head in a way I have never before seen at Flight Path. Paris Bell and Hannah Tayler's design of the world of Lost Things is weird and wonderful and every tiny detail is utilised well - there is constantly something to look at and engage with. Caity Cowan's mysterious and atmospheric lighting design combined with Ellie Wilson and Bryan Ruiz’ consistent and vibrant sound design works to pull audiences deep inside this wacky world.

Audience participation is not only encouraged, but a key component of this production. Hint: if you don't want to be involved, avoid the chairs that say ‘audience participation’...but honestly, being involved is half of the fun of this show and leaning into this element will completely elevate your experience. The production does nothing you expect and goes to places you wouldn't imagine - it is a zany, wild ride but one with a surprising amount of heart and depth.

Emma Throssell leads the production as Cassie, whose kooky, quirky, cool-girl persona is masquerading deeper anxieties and fears around failure and being worthy of her supportive girlfriend's love. Throssell's comedic timing and physicality was spot on for this production but she also brought all of Cassie's pain and fear to her portrayal, quietly bubbling underneath the surface, until Cassie can no longer ignore it. Throssell excels at the comedy but her moments of stillness and realisations were equally as beautiful to watch.

The danger of the world of puppetry is that it relies heavily on real life actors imbuing the puppets with reality in order to bring them to life for an audience. The entire production navigates this extremely well and effectively integrates the puppets to create the world of the play. Throssell had a lovely intensity when interacting with the puppets and a massive shout out must go to the puppeteers (George Wohlfiel, Natanyah Forbes, Renae Valastro, Ashleigh Chandler, Jade Fuda and Michael Ho) who round out the cast and are completely infused in the world. 

Forbes’ highly-strung, chain-smoking Carl the Pigeon was an absolute stand out, as was Fuda’s three-puppet masterpiece performance as the Houseling. The details of the puppets are wonderful - another shout out must go to Poppet the puppet, who is visually incredible. However it is handlers Wohlfiel and Ho's vocal work and use of physicality which brings her to life and is utterly captivating - never before has an audience collectively been so emotionally invested in a puppet like our audience was with Poppet. 

Emma Van Veen straddles the line between silliness and sincerity extremely well. Indeed, heart-wrenching moments are interspersed throughout with punchy humour and immense playfulness, creating an absurdist emotional whiplash. One audience member remarked “It feels like a cross between Labyrinth and the Mighty Boosh” and it's a pretty dang accurate statement. The detail and level of care given to the hand-made puppets is so within the world of Jim Henson but the silliness and zaniness of the Mighty Boosh is captured in puppets like The Lizard Wizard (trust me, you just have to see it to understand the wonder of the Lizard Wizard).

Although there were a few opening-night technical hiccups and moments where the narrative clarity fell to the wayside in favour of comedic gags, this production is technically and emotionally ambitious in all the right ways, and achieves so much in very little time. This production is a love letter to creatives who are struggling in an cruel and unusual industry and an even crueler and unusual economic climate. However this production also speaks to a larger metaphor of losing ourselves as adults along the way and the joy of embracing the messiness of uncertainty. At the end of the production, we know very little about what's next for Cassie or if she will ever achieve her dreams, but we do know she's found a little something of herself she didn't even know she was missing. More than anything, we know she won't be alone anymore.

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