The Time Machine – Leeds Playhouse

Writers: Steven Canny and John Nicholson

Director: Orla O’Loughlin

Zooming in at 88 mph is this fast-paced comedy from Original Theatre, presented at Leeds Playhouse as part of its UK tour.

(Loosely) Inspired by the post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, which was published in 1895, it tells the tale of a time traveller going to the distant future and speaks on the evolution of the class system giving rise to two separate human species, the fair and the savage.

Considering that the original cast featured Dave Hearn of Goes Wrong Show fame, it is unsurprising that The Time Machine follows the Mischief Theatre format of the play within a play, and utilises all the comedic potential it brings.

Amy Revelle, Michael Dylan and George Kemp were rehearsing for a Hip-hop cross-over production of The Importance of Being Earnest when George convinced them to instead perform his brand-new script based on his Great Great Grandfather, H. G. Wells’, book The Time Machine.

Amy is an actor and singer who is constantly trying (and succeeding) in shoe-horning her Cher tribute act into the storytelling. Michael is an actor and company tour booker who ends up stuck in a time loop that always results in his death, and George is the self-centred orchestrator of the piece who accidentally discovers that his Grandad’s chair is a real Time Machine.

The cast has impeccable comedic timing and eek every awkward and comedic moment out, leaving the audience in stitches. This still leaves space for the audience to develop deep empathy for the characters and their plight so, by the end, we are longing for a happy solution.

There is an undeniable chemistry between the performers, who can pick up on any moment and run with it while understanding exactly what is coming next.

For all that the set design by Fred Meller is simple, it is distracting and dominating. It feels like it takes up more playing space than is necessary without performing much function and could have looked a little more haphazard to fit with the theme of the performance.

The performance makes full use of sound and lights, and the potential comic timing of their malfunctions. Director Orla O’Loughlin has managed a production that perfectly inhabits the worlds of amateur dramatics, professionalism and audience participation with ease. She and writers Steven Canny and John Nicholson have found a way to make the confusing world of time paradoxes as funny as they are confusing.

Unfortunately, the first half suffers from some pacing issues as apparent show interruptions are set up which don’t pay off until the second half of the performance. But it is certainly worth pushing through to the second half, as the world of the play completely falls apart and the trio are locked into attempting to change the inevitable.

Side-splittingly funny from start to finish, full of slap-stick humour and mishaps, this is certainly a night-out worth having.

Runs until 6th April 2024