REVIEW: TIME TO GO by Merely Players at Canal Café Theatre 8 – 13 September 2025
‘Pure chaos, in the best way’ ★★★
Pushing forward the frontiers of British improv, Merely Players add a novel new element to the typical night out at the theatre as they embark on a week-long serial-adventure centered around their progress in the strange and wonderful world of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D).
In case you weren’t aware, D&D is a tabletop role-playing game that places players into strange and exciting fantasy worlds reminiscent of Tolkein’s Lord Of The Rings. Plenty of rules dictate some of what they can and can’t do in these worlds but an improvisational heart lies at its centre; how they go about each interaction is left up to them while the structure of the session is managed by another player called the Dungeon Master (DM) who typically has a firm plan in mind for how the session will go, which rarely survives contact with the enemy.
It’s a healthy and exciting premise for a show then, and as with a typical session of D&D so much rests on the chemistry of the players themselves. To this extent Merely Players have it in the bag; everyone in the team, from the humble monk to the seductive bard, play into type with relish and easily get you on board with their madcap antics.
Ambitiously featuring a new quest every night, most of the fun comes from things going wrong. For the quest I was in attendance for the action centered on a spooky haunted house where, try as they might, the Dungeon Master was unable to keep the players along a predictable path and they often defied and subverted the challenges laid out before them, including some ghostly Jenga. This bizarre and lighthearted antagonism was pure chaos in the best way, and gave the show as a whole some wonderful energy.
Things do need some work however; the runtime in its current form feels clunky with the pacing quite all over the place and the ending feeling quite rushed. This is to be expected of both a new show and of anything improvised, but the troupe would do well to really decide on the kind of rhythm they intend their sessions to find and work on nailing that as reliably as they can.
Overall it’s a concept and a group dynamic that, while in need of a bit more bashing out and refinement, so clearly has the perfect ingredients for a great show. Once at the top of their game you won’t want to miss them.
Time to Go runs at Canal Cafe Theatre from the 8th – 13th September 2025
Box Office https://canalcafetheatre.com/our-shows/time-to-go/
Written & Directed by Max Aspen
Performed by Ellen Constable, Emily Sawtell, Jacob Cesar, Austin Hayes & Oliver Towse
Reviewed by Harry Conway
