The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show
This is a recurring cycle of short plays with the added bonus of coffee/tea, croissant and strawberries for each guest. The room is large and spacious but the seating is not very well organised as the players are not performing on a raised stage so, if you don’t sit in the front row, you will miss some of the action.
Today’s plays (repeated each third day) were:
Snow: This was a play about a slice of neurotic New York life and we meet four people who are connected through their fears. Will they overcome their disorders long enough to realise that they are closer than they realise or will the big city keep them apart? The play seemed for me to have no real conclusion and it was like something surfacing above the murk and then gradually descending back into the mass of general life.
Mind the Flak: This was almost a monologue about a typical London tube traveller waiting for her train. We got the competitive seat snatcher who assesses her opposition for anyone who might try to take her pole position, the inevitable delays, the inconvenience of people who jump in front of the trains, and the embarrassment of being in the wrong place at any time.
Thrilling Hostage Drama at high speeds with Pineapple: How would you plan a hostage taking? Would you consider practice runs with fruit to play a big part? If you had the sidekick we saw, maybe it would be enough to make you go straight.
Transactions: This was the most interesting play of the morning for me. In it we have a prostitute and her client. The client asks for something very unusual and the consequences could be a bit scary. Very much a thought provoking look into the world of modern relationships.
Suspicious Minds OR On achieving Greatness: It was one of these titles but I don’t know which (or I slept through one?).
The last story was at a police station and it was a slapstick tale of a man having been eaten by a bear and the grieving widow coming to the station for tea and to be consoled by the oversolicitous officer. Lots of laughs as the officers obsession with biscuits unfold.
The plays were all well acted, though a little over the top in some performances. There were a few laughs in some of the plays but for the most part they should be seen more for their dramatic and thought provoking scenarios than for any comic effect. A good way to start the day
Visit the Fringe Website for booking details.