Miniaturists is an occasional series of short new plays, none lasting more than 20 minutes, currently housed in the stimulating atmosphere of the Arcola Theatre. The next one is the eleventh in the series, featuring the work of writers Christina Balit, Vanessa Bates, Clare Bayley, Steve Hawes and Al Smith. Have a look at the website (with its slogan "Making short work of it since 2005").
       No 10 featured five very varied plays. Some writers and some actors doubled as directors. The first play (Honey, I'm Home!by Penny Black) had all the lights out as Roderick Smith, Santa hat barely visible, blundered home from an office party tight and hungry (and guilty about a snog) to find a power cut, his wife and child bizarrely missing and the family dog behaving strangely. Wicked Women (by Lizzie Nunnery) featured reflections on abortion and child murder and death with the two actresses playing three disparate parts each in a very tight set of scenes. In Mr Blue Sky (by Ian Kershaw, a Miniaturist regular among his other achievements), a woman's desperation on the loss of her favourite stored programmes due to her Sky box needing a complete reboot turned out to be more about the loss of her lover, and the Sky engineer reluctantly turns counsellor. This Time (Simon Bowen) had a man and woman each looking for love and friendship on the roof of a nightclub and finding each other's weak spots instead. TV Play (Yvonne Smith) was a three hander set in a TV studio on the deserved last night of a dire game show dependent on viewers phoning in to answer inane questions about girls' names. In a valiant performance by Philippa Waller, one admired Alex, the "show must go on" presenter, keeping up the high octane level despite the put downs of a depressed producer in her earpiece and, as it turned out, great sadness in her own life. Pauline Monro was utterly convincing as Dorothy, perhaps the show's only regular viewer, with her slippers, net curtains and hobnobs and care of a retarded child.
       Miniaturists is a great idea. It gives opportunities for playwrights to have something put on, for young actors to mix with the more seasoned, for young ASMs, lighting students and others to cut their teeth, and for those who can get to the Arcola to take pot luck and sample fresh writing in a very relaxed and positive atmosphere. Highly recommended.
James Flynn