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When the worlds of science-fiction and science-fact collide... extraordinary things can happen.
Dave is the great-great grandson of H.G. Wells, author of the 1895 novella
The Time Machine, a book that foretold (with suspicious accuracy) the future of the human species. What if the ideas in that book weren't entirely fiction? Right now, Dave and his friends Amy and Michael must set out on a journey through time... the journey of a lifetime!
The Time Machine: A Comedy is (very loosely) adapted from H.G. Wells by Steven Canny and John Nicholson, whose previous adaptation of
The Hound of the Baskervilles was a hit in the West End and subsequently for numerous companies worldwide. It was first produced in 2023 on a tour of the UK, before a run at Park Theatre, London, produced by Original Theatre and directed by Orla O'Loughlin.
Fast-paced and wise-cracking, this riotous retelling zips from the nineteenth century to the end of the world, and (with any luck) back again. It will suit any theatre company looking for a time-bending adaptation of a well-loved story - and a surefire audience-pleaser.
About the author
Steven Canny is an executive producer and writer who has spent many years making television, theatre and radio.
Theatre work includes: The Time Machine (Park Theatre and national tour); The Arthur Conan Doyle Appreciation Society (Traverse Theatre); No Wise Men (Liverpool Playhouse); Origins (Theatre Severn); Spyski (Lyric Hammersmith); The Hound of the Baskervilles (Duchess Theatre, national tour and productions all round world).
Steven was Associate Director at Complicite for five years where he made theatre across the world and then worked with Al Pacino on The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.
Television producing includes: Two Doors Down, Still Game, Mammoth, Mrs Brown's Boys, Jonathan Creek, Porridge, Bob Servant, The Tuckers, A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, Kieran Hodgson's How We Forgot to Save the Planet.
Steven also produced and directed drama and comedy for radio and adapted a number of pieces for radio including A Shropshire Lad with Simon Russell Beale, which then played at the National Theatre, and Complicite's Mnemonic for R3.
His recent shows have won BAFTA, National Television Award, Scottish BAFTA, IFTA, RTS Scotland, TV Times Award, Celtic Media & Sony Golds.
Author photo by Graeme Hunter
John Nicholson is a writer, director and performer. He is Co-Artistic Director of Peepolykus, with whom he has toured throughout the UK and worldwide since 1995.
As a writer, his work includes: King Arthur (Le Navet Bete, 2024); The Time Machine, co-written with Steven Canny (Original Theatre, 2023); Treasure Island (Le Navet Bete, 2019); Dracula: The Bloody Truth (Le Navet Bete, 2017); The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary, co-written with Javier Marzan for Peepolykus (Liverpool Everyman, 2016); and The Hound of the Baskervilles, co-written with Steven Canny for Peepolykus (West Yorkshire Playhouse, 2007).
He has also written extensively for BBC Radio, including Richard’s Rampage, and the four-part series Trespasser’s Guide to the Classics (2015).
As an actor, he has numerous television credits, particularly across the BBC and ITV.
Summary
A fast-paced, wise-cracking, riotous play, loosely based on H.G. Wells's masterpiece, that zips from the nineteenth century to the end of the world, and (with any luck) back again.
