A Life In 22 Minutes – Pulse Fringe Festival

We’ve all been there, that moment at the start of any training course when delegates are asked to introduce themselves in one minute. What are the key facts that make up our lives and how do we condense that into a minute?

Inspector Sands’ latest work, A Life In 22 Minutes, looks at that very fact. It’s a remarkable feat when you consider they only started working on the show on Monday and now, four days later, it’s already an accomplished show.

Nadine Welch is 35 and desperately trying to fit her life into a one minute summary, trying to work out when it would be appropriate to tell her bungee jumping anecdote.

The fleeting moments that make up our daily routines flash before her eyes, transport delays, eating, sleeping, and exercise. All combine to make a cycle of events that define our time.

The show climaxes to the theme of This Is Your Life, as a fur clad, wheelchair bound Norma Desmond lookalike glides onto the stage, clad in fur, turban and sunglasses. She regales us with tales of showbiz encounters and even takes questions from the floor.

Giulia Innocenti performs both parts with delightful comic flair. Despite the short creation period, it is a well defined and detailed physical performance.

There’s much crammed into these brief 22 minutes but the work, created by Innocenti herself with Ben Lewis and Lucinka Eisler, feels the right length.

Small is sometimes beautiful and given the short gestation period, Inspector Sands have created a mini masterpiece of comedy that accurately reflects our everyday lives.