How To Build A Time Machine

Written and performed by Greg McLaren

As an astrophysicist explains the cosmos to his audience, he accidentally builds a time machine.

Searching for the secrets of the future reveals his own past, in this compelling comic performance won critical acclaim during two sell-out run at the Edinburgh festival. An irresistibly powerful blend of science, love and the contents of a garden shed.

"Rambunctious, delicate, bewildering and hysterically funny." The Guardian

“A superb performance by McLaren. It is hard to imagine anyone not enjoying this show. An hour of your time that you certainly won't regret - highly recommended.” Edinburgh Guide

Full Reviews

The Guardian - by Lyn Gardner

A cross between a mad professor and a Blue Peter presenter, the quantum physicist Dr Patrick Beer is giving a lecture on how to build a time machine. Essentials include a portable black-hole generator, a pair of oven gloves and a tape measure to show how far you have travelled. Oh, and a copy of Frenchman's Creek in case it is a long journey.

You won't need any reading matter during Greg McLaren's quirky one-man show, which has enough science to satisfy the physicists in the audience and enough artfulness to satisfy theatre-lovers. All of us would like to be able to travel back in time and change things, but it turns out that Beer has a particular and poignant reason for wanting to build a time machine.

The show needs a little more layering of heart with mind, guilt with black holes and love with gravity, but it is a wonderfully original 50 minutes - clever, comic and wistful with real potential for development.

EdinburghGuide.com - 5 stars - by Ruth Clowes

What would you do differently if you could travel back in time? Dr Patrick Beer knows what he has to do, and he is not giving up until he has completed his daunting task. Ensconced in his chaotic laboratory, this is a mad professor on a mission, and he's taking us with him. Beer, played to fragile, unstable perfection by Greg McLaren, is a likeable, if unpredictable host, whose true reasons for wishing to embark on this dangerous, and apparently impossible, journey only become clear later.

It is a superb performance by McLaren, hitting just the right note of instability, whilst still retaining all the cuddly affability of a kid's TV presenter. The show itself consists mainly of an informal theoretical physics lecture, combined with a host of quirky practical tips on time travel, including a packing list which includes oven gloves and a Daphne Du Maurier novel. Within this light-hearted set-up is the emerging narrative of the background to Beer's obsession, which gradually takes over, building to an apocalyptic climax.

It is hard to imagine anyone not enjoying this show, there is something for everyone, with complicated scientific concepts such as black holes and the nature of space time explained, with the help of props, in such a skillful way that they become comprehensible. Meanwhile, there is a thought provoking and beautifully acted sub-plot, and threaded through it all a wide ribbon of humour. This is an hour of your non-reversible time that you certainly won't regret - highly recommended.

The Scotsman

Snapshot: Man discusses astrophysics and has a break-up.
High point: Great props – especially the effective use of chalk.
Low point: Slightly predictable ending.
Snapshot in the style of a crap reviewers' quote on a poster:
From black holes to black comedy, string theory to chaos, the universe is put under a microscope and found to be very big

If you were one of those children whose parents made them watch the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures you will find the mad boffin Dr Beer instantly recognisable. Alone on the stage with his corduroy jacket and assorted Heath Robinson props, he takes us through the theory of the Universe as he tries to explain why space travel should be possible. On our journey he covers everything from the grandmother paradox – which demonstrates why you couldn't murder your granny with an axe if you travelled back in time – to string theory, chaos theory and everything in between.

Unlike the Christmas Lectures, this play is very good fun. Greg McLaren's one-man performance is both informative and entertaining. If only he'd kept it to this then it might have been almost perfect. By introducing the added element of a dead child – whom he wishes he could go back to save – the performance becomes pre-occupied with deep matters instead of having a great time with dark matter.

McLaren uses props better than most and the dialogue is fizzing and sparky. Even with the unnecessary tragic child this play is a must for anyone who'd like to learn about astrophysics and laugh out loud at the same time.

ThreeWeeks - 4 stars

An astrophysicist explores the desire to time travel to search for moments that take your breath away. Here, quantum physics is equated with love in an intense but sensitive manner; just as the Doctor covers himself in chicken wire to explain the space-time continuum, he shifts to talking about his beloved daughter.

He travels to the abyss of a black hole with minimal props, which only heightens the imaginative intensity of the piece. The monologue is remarkably well-written and jam-packed with cosmos related information that never tires; the scene shifts are perfectly timed to maintain the dynamic level of action.

The incredibly beautiful spotlight shot that ends the piece manages to take your breath away, so the Doctor finally succeeds in his mission.