Who doesnt want to wake up to a coffee, a croissant and five finely crafted short plays? Hangover theatre or simply one for the early-birds, The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show is one of this years best ways to start a day at the Fringe.
White Room Theatre rotate three sets of five ten-minute plays each day, so you might want to return to see all fifteen. As I chewed my complimentary strawberries, the show began with Snow by Adam Szymkowicz, a bittersweet comedy about those too terrified to live. This was followed by Mind The Flack, a hilarious monologue about insensitivity on the underground, written by Paul Randall. Next came Thrilling Hostage Melodrama at High Speeds with Pineapple, which saw gangster Julie and her stupid sidekick probe their fruit salad hostage. Suspicious Minds and On Achieving Greatness, both by David Bulmer, concluded the morning with a touching encounter between a prostitute and her patron and a farcical take on the biscuit-eating British police force.
Inevitably, some of the plays are funnier than others, but every one is well and tightly crafted. They are each performed simply, relying on character interactions rather than elaborate sets and props. While all the cast are strong, the highlight of the morning was definitely Miranda Christidess impassioned rant about the Medusas of public transport (pregnant women who demand seats on the Tube) in Mind The Flak. These refreshingly brief and charmingly funny plays promise to start your day with a smile.
