Los Angeles – January 13, 2013 – Following its acclaimed sold out run as an official selection of the 2012 L.A Fringe Theater Festival, playwright Tonya Meeks’ autobiographical tour de force “Flying Standby” has been slated for a limited return Winter engagement at the Electric Lodge in Venice Beach, California.
Meeks’ soaring theatrical roman à clef proffers a brilliantly crafted exposé of a mother-daughter flight plan gone reality-show-wrong – in all the right ways. The real-life journey to rescue a mother lost, save a free-falling daughter from crashing, survive the turbulence of addiction – and most importantly stow just the right hairpiece in its full upright and locked position – become Icarus wings which carry theatergoers on a gorgeous glide of wit, pathos and the ultimate power of choosing.
Meeks’ one-woman portrayal of her family cast album is a performance Backstage hailed as “appealing, raw” and “full of love, truth and humor.” Her seamless transformations between a mother in whom child protective services would certainly be interested, and the child struggling to navigate her own sense of conflicted identity, offer in themselves a master class of acting. In “Flying Standby,” Meeks blows open her secret diary, sharing with her audience a lifelong passport stamped with suppressed embarrassment, shame, guilt and disappointment. The comedic drama that happens in-flight is so unbelievably authentic, it could only be absolutely true.
“Flying Standby” offers a first class ticket to the dissection, betrayal, rejection and ultimate reconciliation of unconditional love. It is a trip not to be missed.
