Review: (Montreal) Love in the Time of Time Machines

The Hope of Love
by Janis Kirshner

There seems to be a bit of a theme at this year’s Fringe involving time travel and the idea of going back to alter outcomes. Or looking back at things and changing yourself. Re-evaluation is never a bad thing. Sometimes it’s done for you, as we are reminded in Love in the Time of Time Machines, that since all our cells regenerate, we are different people every five years. Nice to know there’s hope for some of us yet…

But, is there hope for Klein and Gabrielle, the couple in the play who break up in the first scene? Would you go back in time and never engage in the relationship at all if you knew it would end in heartache? That’s what Klein does. He goes back in time with the handy dandy Time Dilator 3000 (all beautifully explained by the trusty narrator played by co-writer Ned Petrie). Science and romance; what could be bad?

We have here another show where the story is crazy enough to make sense. This is accomplished with a solid, well-structured script and fine performances to match. A fun, theatrical device that actually works is a lovely thing to behold. Gillian English and Michael Goldlist’s natural acting offers a wide range - serious without taking themselves too seriously, heartfelt, great irony and very funny. And here again, at the end of it all, one is left thinking, this time about the idea of fate woven with our ability to create our own destiny.  

Love in the Time of Time Machines is at the Montreal Fringe
The work will also appear at the Atlantic Fringe.
Read: Gillian English's first-person piece on the creation of the work