“We give a few clues as to what's going on, and people's imagination does the rest.” Nick Brice talks about Bite Size Breakfast

“It's a set of works which are short, fun, occasionally serious, poignant, and served up cafe style,” Nick Brice tells me. “It's up close and personal.” The founder of Bite Size Plays is telling me about returning to Brighton Fringe with a brand-new concept.

Following a remarkable 18-year run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the multi-award-winning Bite-Size Plays are returning to Brighton for a season of shorts with a difference. An exceptional cast, all boasting an extensive range of stage and screen credits, presents a captivating selection of short plays. These blend comedy and drama, succinctly exploring a diverse array of characters, themes and genres – whether exploring the criminal underworld or star-powered journeys into outer space, these are all distinct and memorable works.

Coming to Ironworks Studios on Sat 3 – Mon 5, Sat 10, Sat 17 and Sat 24 – Mon 26 May, as part of Brighton Fringe, The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show serves up four or five plays at each sitting – creating a fresh theatre experience accompanied by coffee, tea, croissants and strawberries.

The shows are perfect for theatre fans who want to access great work without negotiating the hustle and bustle usually accompanying a city arts festival.  You can head into Brighton at 9am for the first show, while the streets are quiet and travel is easier. If you love the show, you can stay for another sitting and a fresh set of works, or wander off with still time to hit the North Laine shops.

“You get the best of the town,” says Brice . “And the best of the city.”

He tells me acting in these short-form pieces is more demanding than performing in a more traditional dramatic work. There’s a certain art in quickly engaging with audiences and drawing them into each new setting and narrative.  

The foundations of this go back to Brice presenting a selection of short plays in 2003, as part of a local theatre group. “Those tended to be scratch plays, where you have an idea and do 10 minutes of it, put it out there, get feedback, and then the popular ideas get worked into ‘proper’ three-act plays.” He entered a competition in Australia, where they had a scene with a lot of work around the 10-minute format. “I managed to get into one of these finals in 2005. They had five weeks of short plays. I went every week, and I saw all of them. Some were mini masterpieces.” While there is a place for epic productions which run for 180 minutes, drawing on a cast of hundreds, there is something satisfying about a simple work which establishes an environment, develops a story and concludes in ten brisk minutes. The company has attracted scripts from across the planet, the only common theme being their brevity.

“We all get involved. We’re looking for an interesting idea that personally connects, has interesting characters and takes us somewhere. Quite often, it surprises you where it goes.”

He founded Bite Size Theatre in 2005, promoting, directing, stage managing and performing in the original productions. “We just kept going. Now we've got a big Edinburgh production at a 300 theatre.” While the company hails from the Brighton area, this is their first Fringe appearance in over a decade. They’ve become an Edinburgh staple, but this spring have set their sights southward once more. Coming off the back of a hugely successful London run at the Pleasance Theatre, the company is presenting a tempting menu of delights on the south coast this May.

Recently, they’ve been presenting talking dogs, space travel, film noir and unlikely looks at sexual predilections. “There are all sorts of bizarre little scenarios that people from around the world have created. The Australians tend to go straight to the jugular… in terms of being very sharp, revealing and honest. The Americans are more political and satirical. We’ve got one about all these celebrities in space. The Brits are a bit eccentric, off the wall and quirky. But you can't generalise.”

Bite Size has built up a collection of around 100 really good 10-minute works over the years. The format seems to be rare in Britain. Scratch plays are a common sight on grassroots stages, but the form isn’t taken particularly seriously by the mainstream theatre industry.  

“We had one reviewer, when we first started, who kept calling our plays ‘sketches’. We’d disagree. Sketches are a minute or two around a simple idea. A 10-minute play can develop. We've done Pride & Prejudice in 10 minutes. It's like the difference between watching a five-day test match and Twenty20. They're both valid and interesting.”

While many of their productions involve full-scale sets, for the Bite Size Breakfast, they create new worlds with eight stage blocks – arranging them in various ways to form different sets. “The audience don’t really think about the spaces being portrayed. It becomes symbolic. It’s a bit like Haiku poetry. You only need a bit of information to create a powerful image. So, we're like Haiku theatre. We give a few clues as to what's going on and people's imagination does the rest. It actually increases the level of engagement.”

He tells me they always work with writers when developing their plays. There’s an expectation of a certain rhythm when presenting works like this in quick succession which can be played around with.

“It’s a good challenge for writers to make all their dialogue and lines count. I think it also teaches writers how to create a narrative drive, which makes a play engaging.”

The multi-award-winning Bite-Size company is passionate about nurturing new talent, offering a platform for the next generation of exciting writers. They’ve had a television series on Sky Arts, performed at the renowned Glastonbury Arts Café, toured Australia and been invited to perform as guest artists at Finland’s Pori Festival.

The short format also means the bulk of their work can appeal to a younger audience. He tells me they’ve already done two kids' shows in Edinburgh. “We got five-star reviews for those. There was one called Family Creatures, which had chickens in it. There was another story about a ghost who's having counselling because he can't scare people anymore.” They’ve also done Bite Size Plays Goes Down The Toilet, which offered three stories around a certain bodily function. “One was about the history of the toilet and Thomas Crapper. Another was about a talking poo that played the flute. The other was a court case with Mrs Wetwipe, because people have been shoving wet wipes down the toilet and causing a collision in the drain.” It was sponsored by Southern Water, who wanted to communicate that certain things shouldn’t be flushed down the loo.  

Bite Size has also done a lot of community activity in the Newhaven area, bringing together school children, people from local charities and residents. “We had loads of fun. So many people told us they'd never been to the theatre before, or wouldn't go normally. But they were loving it.” It was organised with the help of Lisa Fairfield, who has helped bring several different cultural experiences to the town, and will be appearing in Bite Size Breakfast at Brighton.

“She's done a lot of tremendous work. That was what brought this cast together.”

“We're producing good theatre that anyone 12 and above can see, and not get offended by it. The themes are within certain safety zones. If you're looking for plays to completely shock or challenge you, we're probably not that. We're in this middle-ground, with a range of really interesting ideas. Even if you're not enjoying something, you've only got to wait a few minutes, there'll be another one!

“What we really want to do is bring Brighton together with theatre, around cups of coffee, in daylight and in the morning. It's stimulating, and gives you lots to talk about. That’s a lot of fun.”

Bite Size Theatre brings Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show to Ironworks Studio on Sat 3 – Mon 5, Sat 10, Sat 17 and Sat 24 – Mon 26 May, as part of Brighton Fringe 2025

www.bite-size.org.uk  

Find more info and tickets here

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