Maths, alongside additional science, was my lowest GCSE. I was in Set 4, the lowest set, where we spent most of the time hiding behind curtains and writing on the board that we’d “gone drinkin’”. We wouldn’t have done this, however, had the teacher not fallen for it every time. Tangent at the New Diorama Theatre delves into the feisty world of comprehensive schools and in turn brought back memories of my Set 4 experiences.

Chloe, played captivatingly by Maisie Turpie, is new to the school, and has transferred right in the middle of her GCSE’s. There is a second story interwoven, delving into the plight of Donald, played by Jolyon Westhorpe. He is aboard Nelson’s ship 200 years earlier and is also battling with not only his maths but also with the enemy.

Created by Waxwing Theatre, Tangent incorporates movement that adds to the already layered and astute production. Movement Director Alexandra Green successfully disguises the mixed abilities of the actors. The movement helped to distinguish between the two stories: the actors would go from working the decks to typical classroom behaviour effectively, appealing to the audience’s imagination. Direction, by Ed Bartram, Tutku Barbaros and Emma Baggott was intricate , making excellent use of modest resources. Maths instruments became park swings, just as classroom tables became cabin doors. Not only was the set, designed by Rachael A Smith and managed by Valentina Faelli, flexible and surprising, but also the actors also did a good job of multi role-ing. Although extremely effective in showing us the versatility of the actors, prevalent themes such as death were slightly undermined by immediate changes in character, as grief could only continue until the end of the scene when the actor would swiftly drop the emotion.

Peter Kenny often led sound-scapes and he had a natural ability to hold the audience’s attention. Consequently, I found the scenes of which he had control to contain the most shape and energy. On Mr Bickerstaff’s navigation lesson on board ship, Kenny teaches midshipmen (played by Toby Hughes, David McLaughlin and Maisie Turpie) the lunar eclipse method. This involved the educational use of a pineapple to represent the sun and an orange as earth. This scene stood out for having excellent clarity and comical flow, with each actor responding intelligently to the other’s lines.

However, due to the odd line blunder and perhaps the need for another week in rehearsal, other scenes lacked structural perfection. As an audience member, I craved structured scenes because the play as a whole didn’t have a dominant purpose and the piece threatened to become pointless. However, the second half was a great improvement on the first, with each actor performing with more attack, therefore allowing an appreciation of the inventive stage ideas.

The direction ensured a balance between comedy and tragedy, with neither taking away from the other. Alexander Shenton stood out for his starkly distinct characters. He played an insolent Lieutenant Claridge, whose assured ignorance proves almost fatal and school boy Chris, whose word play produced a begrudging ripple of laughter from the audience. Although under-used, Kevin Kamara appeared capable and slick, while Janet Harrison as Meg/Chloe’s mother and Erica Bartrum  as Emily/Bea together shared the only real moments of calm and simplistic dialogue.

I mention the need for an extra week in rehearsal because I found myself noticing small details that required attention such as the use, or misuse, of props. There is a chance however that after condensing a play myself for three months, I have become pernickety. The play recognised the seeming pointlessness of algebra in the classroom while emphasising its fundamental importance in war. Waxwing Theatre certainly has some creative minds on their team and with an eye to detail in the future it is destined for great things in fringe theatre.

Tangent is playing at the New Diorama Theatre, running until the 9 of June