Two hundred years ago, Matthew Flinders circumnavigated and surveyed the Australian continent in a leaky and rotting boat, ‘HMAS Investigator’, producing a map on which the word ‘Australia’ was inscribed for the first time. Currently the Ensemble Theatre is presenting the world premiere of a new Australian play, ‘Navigating Flinders’, written by actor and playwright, Don Reid.
‘Navigating Flinders’ is billed as an intimate portrait of Matthew Flinders, the British explorer. Playwright Reid has said, ‘We know Reid as a sailor, navigator and mapmaker- and because his best friend was a cat called Trim, but who was the real Matthew Flinders- the lover, the husband, the brother? How well did he navigate the reefs and shoals of his own nature?’.
I came out of ‘Navigating Flinders’ feeling a bit of this explorer’s intrepid spirit and daring had rubbed off. The play revealed that not only was Flinders a very capable explorer but he also very capably managed his personal life.
Reid explored his romantic life, and showed him to be very vulnerable to women. His marriage to his wife Anne survived though he was absent from her for many years, and a romance he had with a local Mauritian woman. The play covered the main highlights of his expeditions, and also went into great detail about the many years that Flinders spent on land as a prisoner of the French in Mauritius. His internment was as a result of the Napoleonic wars, and Flinders became increasingly frustrated and angry.
Director Christopher Hurrell brought together a strong cast, many of whom were required to play multiple roles. The pick of the cast were Jonathon Gavin in the lead, Ksenja Logo who played Flinders two women, his wife Ann and his Mauritian lady, Delphine. As always, Drew Forsythe was entertaining in four roles as General De Caen, Sir Joseph Banks, Nicholas Baudin and Reverend Tyler.