Flyby review – interstellar musical is a voyage of epic strangeness

Southwark Playhouse Borough, London
The songs soar and blast in this inventive tale of a toxic romance – though it needs a few tweaks to be truly brilliant

The scope and ambition of this dark musical by Theo Jamieson and Adam Lenson are boundless.

A jagged, time- and space-travelling drama about the emotional wreckage of a mutually destructive relationship, it begins with reports of a young astronaut who has gone awol in a shuttle.

Why has Daniel (Stuart Thompson, fabulous) disappeared with such limited fuel and what is the point of his kamikaze journey?

A non-sequential backstory emerges featuring his relationship with Emily (Poppy Gilbert, just as good) to build a chopped-up picture of their relationship, rather like https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/mar/27/the-last-five-years-review-london-palladium-rachel-zegler-ben-platt-jason-robert-brown">The Last Five Years.

It shows glimpses of formative traumas and cruelties.

Daniel, bullied as a child, seems unconsciously drawn to someone who inflicts similar emotional damage.

Emily lives in a state of guilt and betrayal passed on by her parents (especially her philandering film-maker father, who co-opts his teenage daughter into his web of infidelity and deception).

At https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/flyby/">Southwark Playhouse Borough, London, until 16 May