As they say, “the early bird catches the worm.” The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show is a Fringe show naturally drawing the early-risers’ attention. With a fresh croissant and warm coffee in hand, the audience enjoys a variety show in the form of a selection of “menus” with five “courses2 (20 minute plays). This format surely adds to its charm, and makes it unique from the rest of the shows at the Fringe.
Menu one contains of five independent mini-plays: Vowel Movements by Gary Bates, Couch To No Way by Tom Hartwell, Love (Terms and Conditions Apply) by Anna Kraeze, In Two Minds by Laura Bonang, and The Maltese Walter by John Minigan. These works are played out by the same five actors, which is a fantastic way for them to show off their character shaping techniques.
Unsure of it being intentional or coincidental, all five of these pieces have an interesting theme in common—relationships. Within this hour, we’ve witnessed those in different forms, sets, and stages, making us wonder how we would behave in our own one, in front of who we love.
Director David Frias-Robles does a fantastic job at seizing the spirit of each individual work, which is not always as easy as it seems. Combining personal direction style with a variety of writing could be extremely challenging. Luckily, this could not deviate more from what was happening on stage.
Actors Isabella Inchbald, Kat Johns-Burke, Molly Keogh, Tom Hartwell, and Thomas Willshire manage to handle the multi-roling with absolute professionalism. Embodying different characters in a short turnaround is a challenging task, yet from what was being presented, their acting skills are clearly more than enough to handle it.
Overall, The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show is certainly one of its kind, even just within the narrow category of Fringe variety shows. Maybe Fringe shows that are worthwhile seeing does not always require a pint in hand, but a baked good instead.
The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show is running until 30 August at Pleasance One at Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33). Buy tickets here.
Image by Kit McCarthy, provided to The Student as press material.
