by Amber Pathak

Standing in a storage container at the top of Leake Street, mud squishing beneath my trainers, I hear a man softly singing. This is it, I think, this is how I am going to die, trying to tunnel my way out onto the streets of Waterloo. A second man appears from the corner and started up a dialogue. I am immediately relieved; I would not be doing any digging.

Dig takes place in a magical corrugated container. How is it magical, you ask? Well, not only can this container take you to different places, it can also transport you through time. But don’t worry, fans of the literal meaning of things, there is plenty of actual digging happening.

On a serious note, there are so many things I liked about this show. The writing? Polished. The story? Heart-warming. The ending? Brought me to real-life tears.

The setup of the story is cleverly put together. It slowly builds up our relationship with the characters, leaving lots of room for tension, making any twist reveal all that more impactful.

I’m not sure if standing in a 12×6 foot space with your audience is more daunting than performing on any other stage, if it is then the two performers’ acting skills are immense. Being in the middle of the action means every brow furrow or lip twitch is  seen by all. The way they bounce off each other is natural, fun and thoughtful; both of them bring a range of levels to their respective characters.

Dig runs through 22 March.

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