The Big Bite-Sized Breakfast Menu 1

Lindsay Williams, Jonathan Gavin, Fraser May, Nina Mansfield and Tim Hehir
Pleasance Dome

BBSB cast

This is possibly the best ever BBSB Menu.

Pop by Lindsay Williams

The opener is a light-hearted comedy set in the aftermath of a music festival. The comedy revolves around the efforts of a hippyish quartet to collapse their pop-up tent, while holding on to their dreams.

Sleepless Nights by Jonathan Gavin

Jonathan Gavin has written a dream of a play. It commences with the marriage of an ideal couple played by Cassandra Hodges and Javier Rasero.

Their happiness is contrasted with the bitter solitude of Dan Greest’s Simon. This is measured in encounter with the gorgeous Rita, Katrina Holloway.

Swiftly, a love-hate relationship develops and expands, despite an unexpected one-night stand in Australia and her marriage.

It might sound like Mills and Boon but the pair cannot stop thinking of each other and the only question is whether Simon will remain determinedly single, while Rita endures an unhappy marriage or a happy ending might emerge.

Go and see a short play that is as good as almost anything else on the Fringe to find out the answer.

Close Enough by Fraser May

The courting theme continues in an uncomfortable piece in which Owen Bleach as a hardened womaniser dines with a sweet, innocent date played by Annie Harris.

By the end of their meal, both might well suffer from emotional indigestion, though they have eaten little.

Bite Me by Nina Mansfield

Nina Mansfield delivers a wry comedy about a woman who bumps into a vampire and takes him home as a present for her husband.

The recipient is less grateful than one might imagine, especially given the prospect of sharing eternity with his loving partner.

Somehow, the comedy also manages to offer some social commentary as a side dish.

Pride & Prejudice in Ten Minutes Flat by Tim Hehir

The title says it all as Katrina Holloway, Cassandra Hodges, Owen Bleach and Dan Greest swap roles (including chairs and trees) with alacrity in a hilarious re-working of Jane Austen’s classic—all in the requisite timeframe.

The whole is done with taste and charm, as a tribute to the fine direction of Nick Brice.

Reviewer: Philip Fisher

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