Tim Crouch

I was looking forward to seeing Tim Crouch, for no other reason than to hear his accent. I've been missing England and a performance piece entitled "England" sounded like a good idea. Also, he's kinda a big deal.
This piece was breathtaking. It was a site specific work which took place in the Elizabeth Leach Gallery, but very much a theatrical piece which engaged the audience. It was simple and through this simplicity something really magically happened. There was no set, no special lighting, just a sound scape and two performers: Tim Crouch and Hannah Ringham. (picture below)

The story is told by both performances from the point of view of this person who is dying and receives a heart transplant. We see the world through the character's eyes and are transported from hospital to hospital around England until we arrive in a hotel room in a foreign land. We are there to thank the wife of the husband whose heart now beats inside the protagonist. But things get confused, politics and translation get in the way and we end up questioning how did we get here.
It's not the story that made this evening so incredible, although it is a fascinating one, but the way in which the story was told. I think this could be the future of theater; this well told narrative, this intimacy with the audience, the simplicity of design. Getting back to basics.