REVIEW: Tempus Fugit, Headgate Theatre, Colchester Fringe ✭✭✭✭

Headgate Theatre, Colchester Fringe Festival

4 stars
Colchester Fringe Website

Tempus Fugit is a fast-paced show inspired by folk and fairy tales. The two main characters, a brother and a sister, played by the amazing duo Nathan and Ida, find themselves trapped as wooden figures inside of an enchanted cuckoo clock. Everyday they follow the same routine with a big smile on their faces, repeating the same actions day in, day out without hesitation under the watchful eye of the terrifying ‘cuckoo’. They slowly realise how ancient the clock is with its crumbling base and its rusty rails, they start thinking for themselves for the first time, “What even is cuckoo?”, “Why are we so scared of Cuckoo?”, “Is Cuckoo even…real?”. One sibling embraces the newfound freedom and the other rejects the idea of being free and continues to follow the same repetitive routine. I loved the German accents that the characters had and how they incorporated some little German phrases throughout the performance, the costumes had a distinctive German style to them.

This is a show I could watch over and over again and completely lose track of time, it’s very cleverly done!