Confessions of a Flight Attendant: A One-Woman Play

Around the World in a Bad Mood: Confessions of a Flight Attendant is a one-person, spoken-word play with dialogue based on real experience. It portrays a variety of characters. Rene Foss is the star of the show, a flight attendant who has worked for the past 20 years flying all over the country. The entertainment value of the play is in how she reenacted experiences many air travelers and airline crews' face today in air travel. The spoken word part of the production is the asides she gives to the audience and commentary on her life for example. The first 5 minutes of the performance go through with Rene playing the classic role of a harried flight attendant, who showcases the safety demonstration, hands out snacks and magazines, collects garbage, and then with forced cheerfulness sends off departing passengers with a big smile and "GOODBYE!"

The majority of the audience (me included, both as aviator and airline passenger) enjoyed this bit as it was very true to life with a dash of humor. The rest of the play is mainly character monologues, with her portraying various people she has met throughout her career. These scenes are separated by short asides to the audience, where Rene speaks about her career and how it has affected her life. The overall act is actually quite funny, but you must have familiarity as someone who has used air travel to understand some of the humor involved, such as how flight attendants react to unruly passengers, stereotypes, and delays (weather, security, et cetera). The actual set is quite sparse, as she uses props and costume to get the gist of the production across to the audience. PowerPoint slides are also integral part of the theatrics and poetry, as she uses slideshows to reinforce certain scenes and dialogue. I admit this is a new and novel part of theater production, but it can be uncomfortably businesslike as PowerPoint is often used in a business environment and not for entertainment. However, it helps convey imagery to the audience and proves useful between set/scene changes. What lacked in refined production is more than adequately made up by the comedy Rene Foss injects throughout the play.

The intention and artistry of the production I think is partly based on her continued confession throughout the play that she always wanted to be an actress, and felt this would provide an acceptable outlet by highlighting her experiences as a flight attendant. The other part I think is that she felt perhaps that an industry like commercial air travel needed some light-hearted exposure after recent depressing incidents, such as terrorism, bankruptcy, and general breakdown of customer service in air travel in the last 5 years. By finding humor in even the darkest situations, it shows the optimism human nature can display. Although the production has no serious meaning you would find in a fictional drama or real life story, it does a superb job as a comedic theater work. As for the spoken word sector of the performance, it is no poetry slam but it is what I consider spoken word, as it provides commentary and an artistic outlet. Her monologues provide insight into her life and why she put forth this production. There may be a lack of poetry but is apparent that there is some literary art at work here.