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 The Theatreguide.London Review

In March 2020 the covid-19 epidemic forced the closure of all British theatres. Some companies adapted by putting archive recordings of past productions online, others by streaming new shows, and various online archives preserve still more vintage productions. Even as things return to normal we continue to review the experience of watching live theatre onscreen.

The Time Machine
Original Theatre Online   July 2023;     Park Theatre December 2023

I am a sucker for the kind of show in which skilled performers play less skilled performers ambitiously attempting a production just beyond their capabilities.

The overblown self-confidence, the frequent small failures and the occasional surprising success are equally delightful, and almost always accompanied by moments of inspired comic lunacy.

With a touch of The National Theatre Of Brent and hints of The Play That Goes Wrong, this offering from Original Theatre offers almost as much fun as you could ask for.

Directed by Orla O'Loughlin from a script by Steven Canny and John Nicholson, actors Michael Dylan, Dave Hearn and Amy Revelle play actors named Michael, Dave and Amy, attempting a staging of H G Wells's science fiction novel.

Dave is the overconfident and bossy leader, Michael the occasionally rebellious but ineffective stooge, and Amy the token girl who would much rather be doing a Cher tribute.

The comic premise established through some scientific mumbo-jumbo and a cardboard cut-out of Professor Brian Cox, things take an unexpected turn when Dave returns from an offstage moment to announce that he has just actually traveled into the future.

In one of the show's funnier extended sequences he proves his claim by being able to anticipate every reaction his fellow actors make.

And then Dave announces that the very near future includes the death of one of the trio, leading to desperate attempts to avoid, escape or accept what appears predetermined.

The Time Machine is at its best when at its silliest, as when the time machine itself is represented by an ordinary wooden door to backstage or when, for no particular reason, one scene is played as an out-take from EastEnders and another as Muppets.

Energy flags somewhat when dragging audience members onstage to play bit roles proves predictably lame or when moments evoking sympathy for the supposedly doomed character are just drags on the action.

A farce of this sort really has to be uninterrupted laugh-a-second, and the lapses only make us aware of how thin the material really is.

Within this just-under-two hour show is a fast-moving and really funny one-hour romp trying to get out. Bear with the slightly plodding bits in between, and enough of that shorter show comes through to be worth your time.