Review: Minotaur Shorts 2013 Night Three

The Tab headed down to the final night of Minotaur’s Shorts- here’s what our reviewer made of them.

George

George, a musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic George’s Marvellous Medicine, was ambitious from the start. Juxtaposing child abuse with upbeat songs about poisoning your racist, violent Grandmother is never going to be easy.

However, for the most part it was successful. Alex de Ritis played George with convincing vulnerability, and a vocal ability that allowed him to navigate the musical numbers with ease. The chorus provided some much needed comic relief, even with the seemingly random use of American accents.

The light-hearted tone of the play was in direct contrast with its discussion of dark themes – a difficult balancing act which ultimately paid off.

Norman

Milly Rolle was absolutely stunning as Pauline, a woman holidaying on what is revealed to be her first trip abroad without her husband, the eponymous Norman whose absence is felt throughout the performance.

Martha Geelan’s writing was simply superb, and instead of relying on the stereotype of ‘an American abroad’ created a character who was both well developed and hugely likable. Alongside an abundance of genuinely funny moments there were a few surprise tears at the tragedy that the people Pauline most cared for were not present in her life.

Impeccable writing, direction and performance made Norman arguably the most successful short of the night.

A Beginner’s Guide to Murder

The penultimate performance was a light-hearted comedy following the antics of Tom, an incompetent psychopath, Dylan, his long suffering friend/reluctant accomplice and the woman who they’ve accidentally abducted.

What followed were rapid power shifts, the revelation that our abductee was herself partial to casual violence, and what was quite possibly one of the shortest-lived romances of all time. The breakdown of Dylan and Tom’s friendship was perhaps the most amusing part of the play, and the fight scene deserves special mention.

Our Night

The final performance of the night showed the aftermath of a night out that had consisted of confessions of love met with replies of vomit, beer cans filled with urine and stack upon stack of Domino’s pizza.

A familiar scene

Ciara Morris and Abi Stewart’s script allowed the creation of eight fairly distinct characters – not easily done in twenty minutes and with such a large cast. A split-scene was used to good effect, with Charlie Field’s Ralph being just one of a host of commendable performances – his spot-on delivery of the one-step-too-far remarks made Ralph instantly recognisable as the awkward one of a friendship group.

The Shorts Festival is one of Minotaur’s best events of the year. Tell us what you thought in comments.