Time and the Conways

If you could turn back the clock, would you do it all again?

1919, the Conway family house, Yorkshire. Mrs Conway and her family have it all, the war is over; the children look set for a bright and prosperous future; it's Kay's 21st birthday. Read more …

But, in a twist of time and with a brief glimpse into the future, we discover that life doesn’t play out as expected. Aspirations sour, relationships fail and the truths of the Conway family's lives are revealed.

Priestley's play is an extraordinary manipulation of time and the fates, coming to a climax as he subverts the narrative and takes us back to the original moment when this successful family began to sow the seeds of their own downfall.

Time and the Conways was written in 1937 and illustrated JW Dunne's Theory of Time. Alongside the better-known An Inspector Calls, Time and the Conways is part of Priestley’s series of 'Time Plays' that toyed with different concepts and theories of time, and is widely regarded as the best of this series.

The critical consensus

There is a compelling sensitivity to Jemima Levick’s direction of Priestley’s great time play. She allows his craft to engage fully - while bringing out gut-wrenching performances that can turn you against a character at the turn of a phrase.

Thom Dibdin, The Stage, 19/02/2013

A satisfying, emotionally engaging production that speaks from its own time of change to ours.

(*) Thom Dibdin, Annals of Edinburgh Stage, 21/02/2013

It is utterly fitting that this fine philosophical play...be reprised to such a standard as produced by this excellent company.

(*) Irene Brown, Edinburgh Guide, 19/02/2013

Although Time And The Conways is never easy to watch, something in the intense ensemble feeling of the Dundee Rep company, in Philip Pinsky’s haunting soundscape, and in the deep integrity of the performances, leads us through, this time, to the passionate human question at the heart of the play; and leaves us there, with the Conways, and with all the history of the last century, distilled into a single moment.

(*) Joyce McMillan, 21/02/2013

It remains a thought-provoking piece, wonderfully well carried in this production. These Conways are well worth a moment of your time.

(*) Bruce Blacklaw, The Scotsman, 22/02/2013

At times it’s despairing, at others quietly philosophical, but Levick’s expertly conceived production transcends the play’s inter-war nihilism to stress the work’s profound humanity.

(*) David Kettle, The Edinburgh Reporter, 23/02/2013

Jemima Levick’s production is careful, considered and concise.

(*) Emma Hay, TVBomb, 23/02/2013

Shifting forward and back, between 1919 and 1937, it is a sturdy, some might say dated, well made play. Dundee Rep joint artistic director Jemima Levick has fashioned a production which rises, but rarely soars (although just how high Priestley’s drama is capable of soaring is a moot point).

Mark Brown, Scottish Stage, 04/03/2013

Classy.

(*) Mark Fisher, The Guardian, 11/03/2013

Priestley’s script, and the lengthy first act – which takes far too long to get to the play’s innovative thoughts on human error and whether we can change our past mistakes – ultimately make it difficult to engage with.

(*) (*) Amy Taylor, The List, 18/03/2013