Flight 5065 “Poverty In Africa” Event British Airways London Eye Performance (Event)

Flight 5065 “Poverty In Africa” Event British Airways London Eye Performance

(Synopsis & Reviews)

Synopsis:

FLIGHT 5065 brings people together to play a part in the transformation of cultural attitudes towards Africa in 2005. Flight 5065 was created by Fairtrade pioneers Cafédirect to highlight the impact you can have on the success of African local economies.

On June 21st, Cafedirect present this summer’s most spectacular live entertainment on board the British Airways London Eye. Each of the London Eye’s 32 capsules will become a venue for exclusive live performances of music, theatre and comedy; from new African music to hip-hop; from the National & Royal Court theatres to new political comics. The performance list goes on!

An inspiring event to promote Cafedirect’s Gold Standard Fairtrade model and celebrate Africa before the G8 summit.

Sally Hawkins was one of the 4 young actors performing a series of 1-minute plays penned by the Royal Court Theatre playwrights, onboard Pod #20.

Related Links: Flight 5065 – Official Website

Critics’ Reviews: (#1)

Flight 5065 sounded, to be brutally honest, like a fabulously over-the-top publicity stunt, albeit one in a worthy cause. On Tuesday, to coincide with the longest day of the year, Café Direct, the fair trade coffee company, commandeered the London Eye and packed into each of its 32 glass capsules a series of specially crafted performances from the worlds of music, theatre and comedy.

Just under 2,000 tickets had been sold in a flash for this ambitious one-off despite its wildly unpredictable, lottery-style nature. Depending on your place in the queue you could be shuffling on board with Blur’s Damon Albarn (on hand to support Malian harp-player Kokanko Sata), comedienne Jo Brand or folk singer Beth Orton.

Then again, you could land 25 minutes in the company of, say, a bunch of banana-wielding puppeteers called Soup.

The consciousness-raising value of the enterprise – celebrating Africa ahead of the G8 summit – was never in doubt. Still, as the official start-time came and went and the bulk of those scheduled to go for a whirl-around remained earthbound amid chaotic scenes, it felt as though a giant gimmick was coming unstuck.

Would any of Africa’s poor or starving millions be grateful for such a pie-in-sky gesture? It seemed unlikely. And yet, as soon I was up-up-and-away in the presence of four young actors – two white, two black (Tom Riley, Sally Hawkins, Natasha Gordon and Clive Wedderburn) – performing a blistering set of one-minute plays penned by Royal Court writers, my cynicism evaporated.

It wasn’t just the novelty of the ride, the touristy thrills of the panoramic views or the exhilarating sense of intimacy between players and audience that forced a change of heart, so much as the way that the words spoken so radically altered the way one looked at the world outside.

Instead of searching for landmarks, you took in the immensity of London’s prosperity; instead of worrying about your own safety, you were reminded of the vulnerability of ordinary Africans; instead of envying people in other pods their rival happenings, you remembered Africa’s most basic, urgent needs.

The playwrights didn’t have to do much to create these shifts of perspective. Chloe Moss had two women talking, sharing violently contrasting memories of apartheid South Africa; Simon Stephens had scripted a cockney’s crowing rant to a charity-worker about his city’s hard-earned superiority; most simply and effectively of all, Ramin Gray had Wedderburn hand the audience money as they left, all pitiful gratitude. Guilt-inducing – yes – but horizon-broadening too.
~ Dominic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph 23/6/05

Critics’ Reviews: (#2)

Flight 5065 took off from the London Eye, its 2,000 passengers intrigued by the promise of an entertainment lottery, and 135 performers excited by the prospect of a captive audience.

The actors, comedians and musicians were gathered in support of drinks company Cafédirect, with the aim of driving fair trade practices into the mainstream in the weeks leading up to the G8 summit.

Each act performed an intimate set in the time it took their capsule to revolve. Whether ticketholders ended up with Fast Show comedian Simon Day, or actors performing a short play about a Zimbabwean rent boy, was up to the wheel of fortune.

The presence of African artists such as Nigerian actor Segun Lee-French, Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal and Malian singer Kokanko Sata, plus Live8’s voice of dissent Damon Albarn, made Flight 5065 a more appropriate charity event than the predominantly white concert for Africa in Hyde Park next week. “Why is the bill so damn Anglo-Saxon?” the Blur singer asked of Live8 on Radio 4 a fortnight ago.

Last night before boarding the wheel, he said: “I didn’t criticise Live8, I just raised a few questions about it.”

Albarn did not actually perform-in his capsule. Instead he acted as official cheerleader for Sata, clapping and stamping his feet as she plucked her hunter’s harp – a gourd the size of a medicine ball with a rod and strings extending from it.

Other musicians taking part included folk singer Beth Orton and Turin Brakes, playing acoustic sets to 20 people at a time.

Comedians including Arthur Smith and Boothby Graffoe kept the mood from becoming too worthy, while John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman tried to solve every major global problem in their show, “360 Degrees To Save The World.”

Jo Brand was another attractive draw. “Make yourselves comfortable, I’m going to look out of the window,” she said, pinpointing the spectators’ dilemma of wanting to watch the sunset over Charing Cross and not wishing to appear rude.

Even she talked about charity. This was an entertaining, original event that never lost its sharp focus on Africa. Now it is up to Live8 to do the same.
~ David Smyth, Evening Standard Online 22/6/05

Related Stories: Pod-by-Pod Guide ~ by The Evening Standard, 21/6/05

1. Play – Ayo And Ade’s Big London Safari
2. Comedy – Andrew Clover/Nick Page
3. Music – Kokanko Sata
4. Puppet theatre – Banana! A Slippery Opera
5. Play – Cries Of Cricket
6. Music – African melodies
7. Play – Dinner With Bono
8. Comedy – Arthur Smith
9. Music – Beth Orton
10. Play – Rising Voices
11. Comedy – Jo Brand
12. Play – Sightseeing
13. Music – Skin of Skunk Anansie
14. Comedy – Robin Ince
15. Play – After Sunday
16. Comedy – Kevin Day
17. Comedy – Junior Simpson
18. Play – Fairtrade And Fairytales
19. Music – Jonzi D
20. Play – The Royal Court Theatre Presents… 17 one-minute plays ~ Sally Hawkins’ Pod!
21. Comedy – Curtis Walker and Jocelyn Jay
22. Music – Turin Brakes
23. Play – The Day Of All Days
24. Music – Beyonder and Rise Kagona
25. Comedy – Toju
26. Play – The Obstacle Race
27. Comedy – Boothby Graffoe
28. Play – To Bridge The Worlds
29. Play – Zimbabwe Boy
30. Comedy – Phil Nichol
31. Music – Natalie Williams
32. Play – The Traducers

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