To Move in Time

If it were possible to travel back in time, what would we do? Would you go to the future? Or would you go to the past? What decisions would you make? Which experiences would be most conducive to contemplation? The title of the play, To Move in Time, by British playwright and Forced Entertainment artistic director Tim Etchells, does not imply that the play will feature odysseys, special effects, or temporal earthquakes. This is since the plot revolves around a man's misdeed that alters the course of events. It can be stated that Etchells has devised a literary journey which encompasses a multitude of linguistic elements, including descriptions of actions, thoughts and hypotheses regarding the concept of time. To achieve this, he has chosen a single actor, the veteran Tyrone Huggins, who has been associated with Forced Entertainment since 2022, a company that will be celebrating its forty years on the stage in 2024. Over the course of its career, Forced Entertainment has built a body of work that explores the contemporary world and excites, challenges and entertains its audiences. In addition to performances, he has created a variety of other works, including installations in galleries, site-specific pieces, books, photographic collaborations, and videos. In celebration of his birthday, he has published on his website a series of videos showcasing 36 adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, each performed by a single actor seated at a table and aided by props. These adaptations were first presented in 2015. The format of a one-man band, comprising a monologue performed by a single actor lasting no longer than an hour, is comparable to To Move in Time.

Tyrone Huggins is positioned at the centre of the stage within a circle. With a persuasive voice, he begins his journey, which is not science fiction but rather a verbal undertaking. Huggins asserts that the value of the show lies in its linguistic richness. Furthermore, Etchells offers corroboration on this point: "Language is not so much an instrument of precision as a force, something that flows." Huggins characterises the approach as a thought experiment.

Initially, the character considers assisting a friend in locating a misplaced jacket or, alternatively, in avoiding a traffic accident by remaining late for work. His ideas gradually evolve from relatively modest ambitions to more ambitious ones, encompassing the prevention of the assassination of Martin Luther King and the birth of Hitler. An alternative strategy for achieving financial gain would be to purchase shares that are expected to appreciate. Immediate doubt is cast. One might be forgiven for questioning whether the inadvertent triggering of a war is a sufficient reason to prohibit every potentially adverse event. But why stop them? Furthermore, it would be remiss not to consider the ramifications of changes to the past... His speculations persist, transforming what was initially conceived as a journey into the physical beyond into an ethical treatise on the decisions we make in life. This work can be seen as a parable about the nature of thought, offering insights that are both thought-provoking and entertaining.