Review: Timeless, Alma Tavern

Going back to the live theatre after a prolonged period away feels a bit like rediscovering an old memory. We get our tickets, take our seats, and sit and concentrate on the action in the darkness. It all comes flooding back. And it is memory, both forgotten and hidden, that lies at the heart of Timeless, a 60-minute piece by Bristol-based playwright and scriptwriter Brian Coyle, directed by Charlotte Peters, performed by John Rayment and produced by Sarah Lawrie for Mixed Up Theatre.

In this single-hander, Martin has a unique problem with memory. He can remember events from the past, but since a disastrous visit to the dentist 13 years ago, he cannot make any new memories. And not only that, but he must find this out anew every new day after reading a helpful note left by his long-suffering wife Tracey. He also reads messages that both he and Tracey have written on his phone. “A smart phone!,” Martin beams in wonder, proudly showing the audience his new device, which seems to have the upper hand on recall. He has a condition called anterograde amnesia which means that he cannot make new memories. Or did he already just tell us that?

Live theatre is ideally suited to dealing with the personal immediacy of issues such as mental health problems and personal trauma. A small, intimate theatre is even better. This fits the bill perfectly for the Alma Tavern as it is not only the oldest pub theatre in Bristol but is also conveniently small, intimate, and used to staging plays about difficult subjects.

Timeless is a beautiful snapshot of a single day in one man’s bewildering world (credit Anne Koerber)

Admirably played by Rayment, we first meet the affable Martin in his living room, trying to work out how to switch on his 48-inch TV. “It’s a beast,” he says with pride, but the sort of beast that can turn on you when you can’t even turn it on. The same thing can be said of his memory. Though before the fateful visit to the dentist he was a London cabbie with The Knowledge – the legendary ability to memorise countless routes and landmarks in the capital – now he just sits in his easy chair and tries in vain to remember what happened that morning, while reminiscing about very clear memories of the past.

We learn that Martin and Tracey first met after a night out along with Martin’s best mate Neil, but as Martin starts to reassemble the pieces of a well-worn mental jigsaw, the apparently clear memories of the past throw up some troubling riddles. Doubts start to emerge in Martin’s mind, and he grapples with the hidden depths of incidents half remembered and altered in the mists of time. What may have seemed like minor aberrations in the past may in fact have been more momentous.

Martin’s recollections allow scenes to blur together as he constantly informs us that he has a dental appointment that day and that he is not looking forward to it. He probably shouldn’t have gone, but it is clear that he did. At times, John Rayment’s transition from resigned joviality to frustrated anger don’t quite convince, but his performance is always watchable.

Charlotte Peter’s adroit direction never allows the plain and uncluttered setting to become claustrophobic, and the tension is ratcheted up nicely. Subtle lighting changes and a sparse sound design complement the action, and piece develops far beyond that of a monologue, into an unsettling plot.

Timeless is beautifully written by a talented playwright and very well performed and staged. Definitely not one to forget.

Main photo: Anne Koerber

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