What do a rocket launch to Mars, a talking seagull, Viking invasions and a tragic balloon accident in Victorian Cardiff have in common? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
We were invited along to Sherman Theatre in Cardiff to experience Balloon Girl, a fantastic new production co-produced by Tilt, which takes audiences on a whirlwind journey through 2,000 years of Welsh history.
Written and directed by Hannah McPake, who co-founded Tilt and is well known for her memorable performances on the Sherman stage, the production combines time travel, historical figures, plenty of comedy and the heartbreaking true story of a young girl whose life was cut tragically short.
And while the story might sound like an unusual combination, it all comes together in a clever and entertaining way.
From Cardiff to Mars and back again
Our adventure begins in 2026, at a press conference ahead of a rather ambitious rocket launch to Mars.
At the centre of it all is Carol Gaudron, played by Elin Phillips, the founder of Gaudron Galactic, a company preparing to send its first astronaut to the Red Planet.
With the help of her AI assistant Albi, Carol has selected an ‘everyday astronaut’, Eloise, for the groundbreaking mission.
But not everyone is convinced.
Journalist Thora Gronberg, played by Elan Davies, begins asking some rather uncomfortable questions. Is the rocket actually safe? Has everything been properly considered? And is Eloise really being given the opportunity of a lifetime, or is she little more than a guinea pig?
Carol might have her sights set firmly on the future, but she’s about to discover that the answers lie much further back in the past.
Enter the ghost of Louisa Maud Evans, better known by her stage name, Mademoiselle Albertina.
Fearful that history is about to repeat itself, Louisa takes Carol on an extraordinary journey to uncover the truth about her family’s past.
The tragic true story behind Balloon Girl
At the heart of the production is a real event that took place in Cardiff more than 130 years ago.
In 1896, during the city’s Maritime and Industrial Exhibition, 14-year-old Louisa Maud Evans attempted a parachute descent from a balloon.
The spectacle, organised by impresario Eugene Gaudron, attracted enormous crowds, but what should have been a thrilling display ended in tragedy when Louisa lost her life.
Her death sent shockwaves through Cardiff, prompting an outpouring of public grief. Members of the community raised money to pay for her funeral and memorial, and her headstone can still be found at Cathays Cemetery today.
It’s a moving piece of local history, and one that many people watching the production may not have known about before taking their seats.
But Balloon Girl is far from a straightforward retelling of those events.
Instead, McPake uses Louisa’s story as the starting point for a much bigger adventure, one that explores ambition, responsibility and the uncomfortable possibility that we don’t always learn from the mistakes of those who came before us.
A talking seagull and 2,000 years of history
Helping Carol navigate her unexpected journey is Gil, a rather reluctant seagull sidekick played by Oliver Wood.
And if you’re wondering how a seagull fits into a story about time travel and Victorian ballooning, you’ll just have to go along with it.
That’s part of the fun.
Together with Louisa, Carol and Gil travel through 2,000 years of Welsh history, meeting an extraordinary collection of characters along the way.
Their journey takes them back to the Roman invasion, where Carol encounters her very first ancestor, before moving through Viking invasions and eventually into the Victorian era.
Along the way, she also discovers more about the Gronbergs, a family whose history is closely connected to her own.
And as if travelling through centuries of history wasn’t complicated enough, the group also finds itself running from ‘The Navigators’, a collection of historically significant female adventurers who bring another entertaining twist to the story.
It’s an imaginative way to explore Cardiff’s past, with each new encounter revealing another piece of the puzzle.
The story moves between different periods, introducing new characters and unexpected situations, while gradually building towards the events surrounding Louisa’s death.
A talented cast with plenty of memorable moments
One of the real strengths of Balloon Girl is its ensemble cast, with performers switching between multiple characters as the story jumps through history.
Mari Fflur takes on the roles of both Eloise and Louisa, creating the connection between the young girl whose life ended in tragedy and the modern-day astronaut preparing to take an enormous risk.
Oliver Wood plays both Albi, Carol’s AI assistant, and Gil, her seagull companion, bringing plenty of personality to the production.
Keiron Self certainly has his work cut out too, playing Eugene Gaudron, Mike, Bjorn, Gaudronicus and the Dog Walker.
Meanwhile, Seren Vickers, François Pandolfo and Rebecca Wilson take on a variety of additional characters, helping to bring the different historical periods to life.
It’s a talented cast throughout, but our particular favourites were Oliver Wood and Keiron Self.
Both deliver wonderfully memorable performances, bringing plenty of character and humour to their roles.
With so many different characters, periods and personalities to explore, the cast plays a huge part in making this ambitious story work.
Can Carol stop history repeating itself?
As Carol’s journey continues, the story begins to reveal its deeper meaning.
What starts as an entertaining adventure through Welsh history gradually becomes something far more personal.
Carol discovers how her ancestor Eugene Gaudron took advantage of a young, innocent girl in pursuit of an ambitious spectacle, with devastating consequences.
And the more she learns, the harder it becomes to ignore the similarities with her own plans.
Is she really so different?
More than a century after Louisa’s death, Carol is preparing to send another young woman into a potentially dangerous situation in the name of progress.
The technology might have changed, and the ambition might be considerably bigger, but the questions remain remarkably similar.
It’s this connection between the past and present that gives Balloon Girl its emotional heart.
Suddenly, Carol’s journey isn’t just about discovering what happened to Louisa. It’s about recognising the mistakes of the past before making them all over again.
But will she realise the truth in time to change what happens next?
We’ll leave that for you to discover.
Our verdict on Balloon Girl
Balloon Girl is a fantastic example of how theatre can bring history to life without feeling like a history lesson.
There’s plenty of humour, some wonderfully imaginative storytelling and a talented cast who make the journey through different periods of Welsh history thoroughly entertaining. But beneath all the fun is a genuinely poignant story about a young girl whose life ended far too soon.
What makes the production particularly interesting is its Cardiff connection.
Knowing that Louisa’s story really happened, that crowds gathered to watch her final performance and that her memorial remains in Cathays Cemetery today gives the production an added sense of meaning.
It also encourages audiences to think about the decisions we make today and whether, despite all our progress, we’re really that different from those who came before us.
For us, the combination of local history, time travel, comedy and memorable performances makes Balloon Girl a thoroughly enjoyable theatrical experience.
It’s clever, entertaining and, at times, surprisingly moving.
Most importantly, it ensures that the story of Louisa Maud Evans, a young girl who became known as Balloon Girl, continues to be told more than 130 years later.
Balloon Girl is showing at Sherman Theatre in Cardiff. For further information and to check ticket availability, visit the Sherman Theatre website.
The post Review: Balloon Girl takes audiences on a fascinating journey through Cardiff’s past appeared first on Wales 247.
