Review: THE TIME MACHINE, Tron Theatre

Presented by theatre company Jordan & Skinner, The Time Machine is billed as a radical feminist retelling of the H.G.Wells novella.

A group of feminists have retreated to a bunker, anticipating impending doom caused by climate change, capitalism and the patriarchy (among other things). The characters in the bunker aren't named but as referred to on the onscreen captioning as One, Two, Three and Four.

Initially, it seems like the bunker is a pretty good place to be. As all the inhabitants seem to share the same views and they are largely on the same page about what is needed to turn things around for humanity. It's a strong company with performances from Amy Conachan, Gabrielle Monica Hughes, Melanie Jordan and Itxaso Morena making this a fun show to watch. As time goes on, disagreements about how to ensure society don't make the same mistakes again reach boiling point. The script is witty and the heart of the show is pure punk.

The other element to the plot is that a traveller arrives in the year 802,701 and tries to figure out how the earth got to where it is. I found this narrative a little confusing and the split between timelines wasn't overly clear. It's a high-energy piece but the uneven storytelling lets it down in places.

With set and costume design by Christine Ting-Huan Urquhart and sound design by Novasound, The Time Machine looks and sounds gorgeous. Running at around seventy minutes, this is a fun feminist piece of theatre that doesn't outstay its welcome.

Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

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