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The Navigators are a Science Fiction Theater company with a clear feminist perspective. The the founding members met in graduate school at The University of Iowa and decided to create a professional collective and share their vision of Science Fiction Theater with a broader audience. Now many years later, The Navigators have morphed into a virtual company based in Buffalo, NY, and led by Artistic Director, Bella Poynton. Currently on hiatus from the COVID-19 pandemic, The Navigators hope to return with a new virtual production sometime in 2021.
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NAVIGATORS BLOG
Earlier this year, I read a short play called “Rocks, Algae, Water, Stars” by emerging playwright Jonathan O’Neill. O’Neill had submitted the play for consideration in the 4th Annual Lift-Off Festival of Science Fiction Plays at the Navigators Theatre Company, and the piece immediately caught the eye of literary manager, Melina Neves. As the Artistic director of this small Theatre company, I read quite a few short plays every year for our annual festival, and O’Neill’s play was one of them. Our mission as a company is to produce feminist science fiction stories, primarily written by women or female identifying people. “Rocks, Algae, Water, Stars” struck Melina and I as unique for several reasons—primarily because its main character was a female presenting anthropomorphized version of the Mars rover, Opportunity.