Tuesday 20th until Saturday 24th April 2010 @ Bristol Old Vic, Bristol

Short Fuses is a simple but brilliant idea from the Bristol Old Vic: 5 local writers, 20 minutes each, 2 characters each, and 1 shared starting point. In the case of this week’s shows, each writer was given the simple statement “The State We’re In…” and now for 5 nights in the Bristol Old Vic Studio you can see what they came up with. Each writer interpreted the provocation in a different way and the result is a very interesting and very varied night out at the theatre.

Three plays make up the first half of tonight’s showings: Wild Doves is an abstract, passionate and dark story of a soldier dealing with the tragedies he’s witnessed in Afghanistan; Enemy explores the relationship between a hoody and an old man who live side by side on a council estate; and 15 Minutes Of Wonder follows a washed-up one-hit-wonder diva who can’t let go of her dream. They are undoubtedly interesting plays and individually had some great moments but they all seem to have the shared problem of trying to explore issues a 2 hour show would have difficulty doing, let alone a 20 minute short, and they therefore end up feeling a little rushed and ineffective.

However, the two plays which make up the second half of tonight’s line-up really make this evening worth while. Writer/performer Tim X Atack returns to the Bristol Old Vic with his addictive, dark and mysterious style and he doesn’t disappoint with Freelance Magdalene, a beautifully abstract tale of how a couple of friends went exploring around the world together but only one returned home. The play holds our attention throughout, the intriguing design and abstract direction complementing the beautiful, slowly unfolding story perfectly.

Chocolate Money is the final play tonight and, as with Bristol Ferment last month, local writer Adam Peck provides another show-stealing script. His latest play explores how people manipulate bad news items to their own ends, taking the recent local Cadbury redundancies as inspiration, whilst also being a successful and achingly witty parody of “on-the-button issue” theatre.

Short Fuses is a fantastic evening at the theatre with lots of local talent and potential on show and I hope it’s the sort of stuff Bristol Old Vic will be embracing more and more of in the future.

www.bristololdvic.org.uk

Matthew Whittle www.matthewwhittleblog.blogspot.com