A LITTLE TOO MUCH CARRY-ON

The crew earns its wings;
the script, not quite

There’s no denying Rivendell’s commitment to the bit in its production of Eliza Bent’s Bonnie’s Last Flight, the final show of their season. The front staff are clad in flight attendant garb. The ushers wear hazard vests. The audience is separated into boarding groups. Alas, my tendency to wait until the last minute for confirmation meant that yet again, I was among the last to board, consigned to the dregs of boarding group 3.

LaKecia Harris, Rebecca Spence, and Jessica Ervin

Entering the “plane,” one finds that it’s open seating—Smelta Airlines has apparently taken up the model that Southwest abandoned—and is directed to available seats by Jan (Rebecca Spence), Greig (Tony winner Paul Oakley Stovall), and LeeAnne (Jessica Ervin), flight attendants with plastic smiles that slither off the moment they look away from you. A bro-ey—is there any other kind?—pair of pilots (Eric Slater and Glenn Obrero) hang out in a corner. The flight attendants hand out wet wipes. It’s all a bit claustrophobic and oppressively cheerful.

Rebecca Spence and Paul Oakley Stovall

Scenic designer Regina García’s set is rather impressive, especially considering the confines of the small Rivendell space. One end of the aisle is occupied by the cockpit, the other by the galley. There’s even a small lav built in. The finishing touch of the entire enterprise is my favorite: cotton-ball clouds, artfully positioned across the ceiling.

Paul Oakley Stovall and Rebecca Spence

Bonnie’s Last Flight is broken up into three sections: takeoff, flight, and landing. The story, such as it is, concerns the retirement of Senior Flight Attendant Jan. She has been accepted into a prestigious creative writing workshop in Chicago, and, following this, her last flight, she plans to devote herself full time to being a writer. The drama comes from the fact that she hasn’t told Greig, her work BFF, and possibly her life BFF as well. Greig is deeply hurt, even more so when he realizes that everyone else in the crew knows. Even annoying, inept, and too-eager-to-please LeeAnne knows. There are other problems. The pilot is severely hungover, the co-pilot is severely heartbroken, LeeAnne is severely broke, and, in the most ugh-worthy turn of the script, Mark Twain (LaKecia Harris) is one of the passengers.

Eric Slater and Glenn Obrero

Devon de Mayo directed the uproarious Untitled Vampire Play at Lookingglass earlier this year and attempts to pull off the same madcap intensity here, but she has been saddled with a much weaker script. In its best moments, Bonnie’s Last Flight is a sweet workplace comedy. Had it persisted in that vein, it would be more successful. Instead, it is crammed with incident. It is not enough that Jan is retiring, she also has to be a writer, and have conversations with Mark Twain, and narrate her midlife crisis, and have another impending crisis, and receive a shock from her past. You see what I mean? With all the focus on Jan, the other characters are given short shrift. There are multiple dance numbers, performed with aplomb in the aisle. There is a strange unburdening exercise involving the audience, the point of which I still don’t understand, and a conveniently chaotic descent which enables everyone to have their come-to-Jesus moment. Happy endings for everyone! It’s all a bit much.

Jessica Ervin

Yet, it’s still fun because, as mentioned above, the cast and crew commit themselves to making it work. Spence and the soft-spoken Stovall are delightful as work besties, and the scenes where they snicker at the incompetence of poor LeeAnne are the best-written portions of the play. Similarly, at the other end of the set, Slater and Obrero have wonderful collegial chemistry, and the reinforcement of their work relationship at the end, subtly indicated with a squeeze of the shoulder, is the sweetest moment of the evening. And Jessica Ervin as the mocked, lovelorn, and broke LeeAnne is a wonderfully manic physical comedienne.

Garrett Bell’s lighting and Satya Chávez’s sound design are also firing on all cylinders, especially during the descent of the plane.

Rebecca Spence

Bonnie’s Last Flight is a subpar script elevated by a terrific cast and a gifted director. As a show, it’s entertaining, but the lack of depth makes its pleasures evanescent, though there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, it doesn’t matter if the flight is turbulent as long as it lands in one piece.

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photos by Jenn Udoni

Bonnie’s Last Flight
Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
Rivendell Theatre, 5779 N. Ridge Ave. in Chicago
Thu.–Sat. at 8; Sat. at 4
ends on October 25, 2026
90 minutes, no intermission
for tickets ($38), call 773.334.7728 or visit Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago

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