Culture Editor Jo Thompson enjoys a second night of shorts from Minotaur Theatre…

Death Row

The first short of the night took verbatim the words of US prisoners condemned to execution. The numerous accounts were patched together to create an emotive and compelling picture of Death Row.

All photos credit Minotaur Theatre Company

Direction was minimal. The audience’s investment hinged mostly on the actors’ characterisation and they did not disappoint, performances were earnest and gripping, and accents notably consistent. Joe Jones and Ali Bourne were outstanding.

The piece definitely erred towards being a portrait rather than a play with its own intentions, but it was frank and touching. Above all other things commendable, Harry Smith’s piece handled an enormously serious topic in an absolutely tasteful manner.

Hounds

Hounds saw two women striving for power within the hierarchy of suburban school mums. Milly Rolle’s character was desperate for approval and had consequently implicated herself in the murder of a neighbour’s dog. Holly White played the more domineering character, merciless and devious fox-assassin.

Despite a wayward dramatic gesture of smashing a glass onstage, there was barely a glimmer of corpsing and the actors improvised around the lost prop to hilarious effect. White and Rolle gave striking, engaging performances and, along with Susannah Martin’s lively direction, brought to life the playful writing of Ben Rogers’ script.

Mister Men

James McDermott’s Mister Men was uncomfortable for all the right reasons and a real achievement considering the time limit. It highlighted the pressures and particulars of a couple’s deteriorating relationship: it being open, it being homosexual, there being differences in personality and age, and meaningless sex becoming more.

The play was confidently acted by Joe Jones, Ed Jones and Sam Hind. Lines could have been slowed down to make the most of a witty script, but the scenes still tipped smoothly between tense and funny. The conflict of the love triangle was created subtly and sharply, all three characters individual and rounded. The set was excellent and used effectively for the compact narrative.

The Man of La Mancha

The last play of the evening seemed to be a dystopian exploration of the vulnerability of original thought in an encroachingly antiseptic world. A wannabe Black Mirror essentially, which perhaps came out too dark and convoluted for the twenty minute slot.

Its lightest moments and best dialogue came when philosophy wasn’t being crowbarred in; there was some genuine amusement in the lead’s interaction with a homeless man who was armed with a card reader for passers-by who claimed to have no change.

The intense, abstract monologue which ends the piece contained some interesting ideas, but felt overblown given the snappy nature of the Shorts festival. It might have been more at home in a longer piece which gave the audience more reason to care about its despairing, closed off narrator.