Concluding my reviews of the full set of Bite-Size Breakfast shows with Menu 2 and another 5 mini-dramas.
Battlelines is set at a Battle of Hastings re-enactment where things aren't going according to plan and some advocate a more modern approach. Why shouldn't William the Conqueror be played by a woman? Complete with an unusual use for a baguette.
Home is set on a NASA spaceship that's been lost in deep space for 3 years and the 3 crew members start to tell a few home truths before their rescuers reach them. Living is close proximity has created more resentments and secrets than they'd realised, and changes the way they think about being taken home.
I've Tried It Once is narrated by 50-something woman reflecting on her loveless marriage on the death of her husband. The story of a wasted life in 10 minutes is much funnier than you'd think.
Trapped Language of Love is the highlight of the show, as a couple meeting for the first time on a park bench say little to one another, but tell the audience their inner thoughts - expressed as sixteenth century love poetry. It's a clever idea and the result is hilarious (the woman next to me was wiping tears from her eyes long before it ended).
Put Asunder closes proceedings with a slightly daft comedy about a bride, on the verge of the wedding ceremony, finding her colourful past coming back to disrupt her day. A thin premise, but the actors have a lot of fun with it, especially Claira watson Parr as the bride, and Billy Knowelden as her sleazy Italian ex lover.
Another excellent quintet. From the three menus my favourites are definitely today's Trapped Language of Love, and Fagbutt in the Fishbowl from menu 3. But there's no duds here. Highly recommended.
The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show is in the Pleasance Dome at 10.30 until 27 August. Menu 2 is being performed on the 22nd and 25th.
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