Navigating

I have just got home after seeing Melville Theatre's latest offering of Navigating, directed by Peter Nettleton. Please go and see it. This is an intriguing and disturbing play, written by Katherine Thomson. As the partner of a Finley adjudicator, I see a LOT of plays. So far this year I have seen some very bad plays, some very good plays, and a lot of moderately good run-of-the-mill plays. Navigating definitely falls into the second category. Tonight was the opening night, and some of the scene changes could be tightened up. There were technical problems, a few lines were dropped - but these will improve during the run. The script is well written. The dialogue is tense, you need to concentrate. There are constant scene changes - not physical changes - the set remains constant throughout. Different areas are used to denote different areas of action, and it works really well. I particularly liked the use of the back-lit scrim. The acting was of a uniformly high standard, with spectactularly good performances from Jodie Hansen and Val Riches as the two main characters. Val, in particular, gave a virtuosic performance, and I congratulate Peter Nettleton on his direction. I believe that bookings for the show are very disappointing so far. It deserves full houses. Please go and see it.