A truly astonishing solo performance from Marcus Brigstocke. He plays Sam, a wannabe actor who pays the bills by answering the reservations phone line in an exclusive place-to-be-seen New York restaurant. He also plays every other character in a dramatis personae that must stretch to around 40, acting out his conversations with them on phone and intercom. There's a couple of members of his family, two contacts from his acting world, half a dozen colleagues within the restaurant and countless customers demanding their share of Sam's time and making his life difficult. And Brigstocke gives every single one of them a voice, an accent, their own body language and personality.
It's mesmerising to watch these continual transformations taking place and Marcus, experienced comedian that he is, draws out all the laughs from the script and the opportunities to portray a range from high camp to quietly menacing. The title echoes the phrase used to convey how booked up the establishment is, but also reflects Sam's predicament in trying to spread himself so thinly, and gradual realisation that he'll do anything, even if a bit unethical, to get himself into the acting business. His agent is telling him to present himself to auditions as if he's entitled to be there, and he has plenty of overly-entitled rich people calling him up who he can learn from.
It's an effective dissection of the snobbery, oneupmanship and bitchiness that seems to be the default status of the privileged, although it did feel as if the script needed more of a satirical edge. In the end there was little to provoke any depth of thinking.
But that's carping. Taken purely as an entertainment, and a chance to watch a masterclass in characterisation, this is a satisfying and very funny way to spend seventy minutes. And you won't forget Brigstocke's performance.
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