Beginners by Tim Crouch

A few days left to catch 'Beginners' at the Unicorn Theatre and then, let's hope, it has a life beyond. I saw the play on Thursday evening and have been trying to write something about it ever since. I want to praise it, I want to describe it, I want to capture my experience of it and, by writing it down, insert myself into the narrative of the play. I want to be in 'Beginners'; as one of the child actors. I want to turn back time, or make time jump or fold or contract. I want it to be possible to be an audience member watching myself at 10 being in the play. This play would have saved my life at a time when I could not comprehend the possibility of rescue. I watch it now as a self-saved and self-rescued adult. Beginner's gives me the gift of seeing how it, how it could have been and how it now is.

This is an extraordinary play and Tim is an extraordinary writer and man.