To Move In Time

Have you ever wondered exactly what you would do if you had the ability to travel in time? To go forwards, or backwards? Would you kill baby Hitler? Save your best friend from an accident? Or simply just remember to press save on a document you’re working on before the system crashes?

These are just a few of the questions that Tim Etchells asks in his play To Move In Time, at the Birmingham REP.

Tyrone Higgins is our advocator, as we explore the many possibilities and consequences of this conundrum. His delivery is engaging, we hardly noticed the 50 mins go by as we were completely drawn in to his to and from thoughts. Told with a light hearted manner, yet with some serious points, we genuinely felt as though time were standing still, our focus completely on this one man stood in the centre of the stage, perfectly lit for our attention.

It’s certainly a thought-provoking piece. Would you change something if it meant that by doing that something you wouldn’t experience the life that you have had? Or even that you would fail to exist?

As we rapidly fall down the rabbit hole of, ‘What if’s?’, we wonder if the point is that we should simply be grateful for what we have, for the people that have touched our lives, be it for the good or the bad. That we were actually really lucky to know the people that we have lost along the way. That maybe we should really just live our lives as if everyday is our last, because we can’t actually travel back in time and change anything that we might later regret and we can’t stop the people that we love from making their own mistakes.

The piece is an ever-evolving thought process, something that we can all relate to in some capacity. It’s definitely one to watch, and think about for many hours, days, even lifetimes afterwards.

A riveting and inspirational piece of theatre.

This show was reviewed at Birmingham REP on the 23rd May 2024.

Review written by Rachel Martin

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You can watch our interview with Tyrone Huggins here: https://youtu.be/ZBgCpP3eKVw?si=1kG0Cmvq_VsQr99c