Review: Flying Ant Day (Union Theatre)

Review by Justin Williams

⭐️⭐️

Watching this new production Flying Ant Day at the Union Theatre, I was left feeling that the piece has enormous heart and ambition, but it hasn’t quite found its form yet. The programme sets out the playwright's sincere intention regarding loss, the awkwardness of talking about death, and the complexity of family communication. Those ideas are visibly present, but the script keeps pulling away from them just as something meaningful begins to take shape.

The play introduces many themes: flying ants living for one day, a ghost appearing and disappearing, a mother drifting between lucidity and decline, farcical moments of sex unfolding on the deathbed with the dying mother next to them, and a character who buys bottle after bottle of wine. Each of these ideas could be interesting, but they never grow into anything fully realised. Every time the play edges toward something philosophical, it swerves into comedy that doesn’t quite land. A moment where a lover enters with armfuls of water bottles, only to drop them across the stage, sums up the tonal uncertainty. It's not macabre, just awkward, coupled with the late shift to the family suddenly relocating to a sold home, which comes without emotional logic or narrative preparation.

Dean Elliott’s direction tries to balance intimacy and surrealism, but the result sometimes leaves the play feeling unsure of itself. Split-screen visual moments appear without a clear dramatic purpose, and several transitions feel slightly out of rhythm, with cast doing awkward push and pull with uncertainty. The hospital set – a bed, screen, table, chairs, and a vase of flowers – is simple and appropriate, but placing everything at the very back of the stage unintentionally distances the audience from scenes that should feel close and raw.

Lighting by Ben Lucas adds some nice touches, especially the shifts in time of day and mood. These moments add texture and offer glimpses of the emotional tone the show aims for. Unfortunately, the noise from the lighting rig — particularly the fan hum — cuts through several delicate silences and pulls focus at the wrong times, as do preprogrammed follow spots which are cued too early or too late.

What truly carries the evening are the performances. The ‘GCSE students,’ played by Daniel Hintner and Kirsty Campbell Ritchie, are exceptional. Their comic timing is razor-sharp, and they bring a clarity and energy that lifts every scene they enter. Their handling of the tripod used to film the mother’s death (yes, it's a surreal homework task) is one of the few moments where the humour genuinely lands because they sell it with precision, wit and instinct. Daniel Hintner, in particular, delivers a stand-out performance, shifting effortlessly between comedy and surprising emotional depth. Kirsty Campbell Ritchie matches him beautifully, bringing warmth, intelligence and a nuanced sense of timing that makes their scenes feel alive.

Kiera Murray brings layered, thoughtful work to her role. She offers small, grounded details that help anchor the more chaotic shifts in tone around her, and her presence adds sincerity to moments that might otherwise drift - especially in the tolerance of her Plan B boyfriend it seems. Alex Gannon gives the play some of its most contemplative and grounded moments. His stillness and emotional clarity add real weight to themes of regret, grief and the things we can’t reclaim. He frequently provides the emotional focus that the script itself doesn’t always deliver.

Fraser Adams takes a slightly muddled character concept and turns it into something unexpectedly affecting. His portrayal of the deceased father feels warm, familiar, and quietly sad, hinting at the emotional depth the rest of the play often reaches for but does not quite capture. His final moment in the embers of Act 2’s Christmas scene is the emotional depth we needed more of from the rest of the script.

There is a sincere heart behind Flying Ant Day, and the personal motivations shared in the programme are felt throughout. But the piece needs clearer dramaturgy, stronger shaping, and a firmer sense of what it wants to say. The ideas are there — they just haven’t settled into a cohesive story yet. The cast, however, has some really great performers who grapple with the void. They bring truth, humour, commitment, and emotional intelligence to material that doesn’t always support them. Several performances are so strong that they become the highlight of the evening.

The Union Theatre really is the perfect testbed for work like this. It’s one of those rare venues where a piece can breathe, stumble, reshape itself and grow in front of an audience that understands the value of development. There’s something deeply comforting about the space — its intimacy, its history, its generosity. The walls have held countless creatives and performers at the very start of their journeys, and it continues to be a place where new writing can be explored, questioned and polished. It’s a welcoming, much-valued home for work that is still finding its voice.

Flying Ant Day plays at Union Theatre until February 27th

For tickets and information visit https://uniontheatre.biz/show/flying-ant-day/

Photos by Nkemjika Ohanyere