THEATRE AT HOME REVIEW: Time of Your Life ★★★★★

Time of Your Life
Gecko Theatre Company
Digital Streaming, Gecko Website

Originally broadcast on BBC Four in 2015, Geco Theatre Company's Time of Your Life Your Life follows Peter (Amit Lahav) as he navigates, with the help of an ensemble, through monumental milestones that occurs throughout his lifetime through the art of multiple rooms amongst the soundstage, taking us as the viewer through a rollercoaster of emotions along the way and messing with our perceptions and itching for the rewind button for a second viewing.

Opening up upon what can be described as a suprise birthday gathering, all seems smooth to start as Peter interacts with the company around him, who all move effortlessly around him as they submit positions dotted between the sofas to the open space of the living room, until not too long after we see Peter suffocating under a sheet and escaping soon after, symbolising a rebirth and subsequently the start of a journey which will see Peter going through the motions of what makes us human and the experiences we encounter and crave with eachother.

Poetic and rhythmically entertaining, whilst swaying through different timescales, themes of family, relationships, and loneliness play a major part in structuring the middle parting of the story, which lasts around ten minutes and is completely transfixing, with Amit Lahav displaying a tremendous amount of energy and sheer memory to be able to hold such intricate movement throughout without getting a real chance to breath as he whisks his way around the studio floor bouncing between work, social events, and the more intimate moments with his wife. The ensemble as a whole are also irreplaceable, each showcasing a flow of patterns from the moment the production begins within the party atmosphere, and levels shaping a rounded atmosphere, right through to the final note.

As the production moves forward and Peter is seen entering the next room, a more sombre tone is presented, one that brings pain to our protagonist, and is where Dave Price's sound and Chris Swain's Set Design truly takes hold in signifying the art of uncertainty and death within the storytelling, with an ominous glow seeping through a body of mist and bark smattered across the floor.

Leaving the final room, the whole process of what Peter has gone through becomes evidently clear, and is also where Gecko turns the tables on its own production to merge into what can be described as a black mirror styled episode when the rug is finally pulled from under our feet and the title of the film finds its hidden double meaning all along. It's a bold move from the company in the way that language suddenly becomes predominant again, which is far away from any of their previous creations, but personally I found it moving and apt for the occasion, as Peter's life unravels around him and he finds himself unable to let go of the experience he's just encountered.

Overall, Time of Your Life is simply a masterpiece like no other. Mesmerising and insanely technical, it creates a concrete concept that will keep you frozen for 30 minutes and entranced within Peter's journey, in a fast-paced sequence so perfectly timed that it will keep you guessing till the final moment under the true meaning of what it's like to live our life to the fullest degree and how to form a human connection with one another.

You can Stream Time of Your Life Here.