Review: One More Star in the Sky, Lion and Unicorn Theatre

When Flora (a stand out performance from Hannah Grigg) gets the chance, via an experimental drug, to travel back in time to meet her mother, Goldie (Daisy Moody), as a younger woman, she sees it as a chance to not only reconnect with her mum but also see her at a time she was happy. 

It becomes obvious that Goldie is no longer alive in Flora’s time, with lots of mentions about missing her and getting to hear her voice again. Of course, if Doctor Who has taught us one thing, it’s that time travel has many issues and it’s vital not to affect the timeline. And to begin with, Flora is careful not to reveal anything of Goldie’s future, especially who she marries or how and when she dies. But the clues are all there to suggest that her future is not going to be that great after marrying a man that every one of her friends seems to agree is just not a nice man. But as Flora bonds with her mum, present at different stages of her life, can the future be changed if Flora warns her in time?

It’s a great, if not totally original, idea and one that really could make for a brilliant piece of theatre. But the problem with One More Star in the Sky is that, as good as the initial idea may have been, the play never fulfils that potential. The themes of grief and living your life to its fullest just don’t get enough attention, lost amongst all the filler that dominates the hour. There are whole scenes where it’s hard to fathom quite what their purpose is. An early scene in a nightclub has a whole karaoke moment that serves no purpose other than to elicit a few laughs, adding absolutely nothing to the story. And that trend just continues throughout, way too much padding (don’t even get me started on just what a character called Colin is all about), and not enough actual content that builds on the concept offered up. 

The few scenes that do contribute suggest that there is plenty of promise and that Lucy Hill could write the show she wants this to be. Those rare moments when mum and daughter connect and argue over their shared future allow the themes that should be ingrained throughout to, finally, get some deserved airtime. But it is too little, too late. There is emotional mileage to be had in seeing Flora’s despair at knowing her carefree mum turns into someone whose dreams are shattered by marrying a man who is so wrong for her, and there’s more that could be wrung out of the time travel that takes Flora there; what are the strict rules she says she has been given as part of the trial, can she change the future, could her presence in the past alter her mum in the future? There are endless questions and directions this play could take, but it simply doesn’t explore any of them. 

One More Star in the Sky is a great concept, but it requires someone to take the script, rip out the few pages that build on that idea and then start all over again. There’s potential, but it’s going to need some drastic reworking to reach them.

Written & Directed by Lucy Hill

One More Star In The Sky has completed its run at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre.