DAYS ARE REALLY LONG BUT YEARS GO SO QUICK - REVIEW

Brought to you by All Day Breakfast theatre, comes a show that looks into a not too distant future when humanity’s survival relies on a group of scientists travelling through portals in search of another world that humanity can escape to after destroying Earth.

The show follows the adventures of Dolores, Dan, and Nick; two experienced scientists and a happy-go-lucky American full of positive catchphrases, as they travel through portal after portal and experience all sorts of strange new worlds.

Playing at The Rotunda Theatre’s Bubble in Regency Square as a part of the Brighton Fringe 2023, Days Are Really Long But Years Go So Quick somehow matches the obscurity and vagueness of its peculiar title perfectly.

In many ways, I don’t know how to describe this show.

The concept I found very exciting and whilst the execution was ambitious to say the least, it felt like the show fell short of what it was trying to achieve.

When I imagined a story focused around portals and looking for a new home for humanity, I was expecting a show which analysed humanity and its treatment of the world thoroughly.

The book seemed well written and poignant however it was near impossible to connect to any particular storyline or moment as the show changed locations and characters so much it was impossible to keep track.

This show teeters on weird and unusual consistently. This isn’t an immediate issue for me when well executed and with purpose however it felt like this show could have been improvised from how odd and peculiar it was.

The use of projections and sound was incredibly clever and did an excellent job of building on a set that was otherwise made up entirely of cardboard boxes and a filing cabinet. Likewise, the performances of all three actors was engaging and incredibly entertaining as they committed to a wide range of unexpected characters.

I think the show could have captured my interest far more if it had focused on the reason for all of these experimental portals rather than the portals themselves. There were brief moments that looked at the corruption of the scientific board running the operation, the argument of whether man even deserve another chance on another planet, which if looked at as the main source of conflict would have been way more engaging.

Instead we followed three characters, who seemed to have history and contentions with each other which were never fully explained. It was like watching a tv show halfway through a series and being expected to follow along.

I had so many questions “How have we discovered so many portals?”, “What is the criteria for the planets and who found a portal where mice were the ruling class and thought that was a good idea?”

Ultimately I really wanted to like this show but I think I was more fascinated with the concept rather than the show itself. It’s certainly entertaining and will give you lots of interesting talking points but it’s certainly not a show for everyone.

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{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

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