RT Productions/ Citizens Theatre - One Million Tiny Plays About Britain. Hill Street Theatre 22/8/11

One Million Tiny Plays.. is based on Craig Taylor’s serialised Guardian column.  As the title suggests, this play is a montage of contemporary British life  – a kind of ‘around the UK in 80 plays’. – well 20 maybe. The first few were performed on the stairs of the Hill Street venue before we were herded with speed around the corner to a clothes shop on George Street where the remainder of playlets were performed in the round –  almost - by 3 terrific performers.

For the next hour, we journeyed to UK towns and cities - a hen night in Newcastle, a hospital in Manchester, a kebab shop in Portsmouth – and met a range of different characters; litter pickers, cloakroom attendants, late night revellers, house hunters, a lonely old lady.  Snapshots of life were captured in a scene, some funny, some poignant, others familiar and a few stereotypical.

I think I was initially miffed that this show didn’t meet my expectations of a more visual show of ingenuity and clever use of set and props and that the unexpected switch of location put a spoke in the wheel of well timed plans to get to the next show on time (cab came and went without us).

I also felt my attention waning towards the end. These quick insights into the lives of others felt quite intimate to start with but there was no expectation of ‘what next’ as you knew it would be another short dialogue in another UK city.  That said, this show did stay with me.  Running time 1hr 15mins