The Jolly Folly Of Polly The Scottish Trolley Dolly And Other Mini Marvels, Upstairs At Three And Ten, Brighton, until May 19, call 01273 917272

In the intimate setting of Upstairs At Three And Ten, Ripley Theatre serves up a mixed bag of short plays.

The highlight is the eponymous Polly, a Scottish flight attendant played by Suzanne Procter, whose life veers off course when she unwittingly falls in love and subsequently becomes pregnant. In the format of a musical, the piece somehow manages to squeeze the hopes and fears of Polly into about four numbers. Procter herself plays the part wonderfully, with the deferential smile of a trolley dolly combined with the angst of her situation. And just like any musical, the numbers are catchy, with audience members afterwards singing Living Like Lesbians until they check themselves.

Prior to Polly are two other works with varying successes. The first is Madam Butterfly’s Child, a monologue by Gregory Ashton. Set in the Royal Albert Hall during a performance of Puccini’s masterpiece, Ashton is Japanese villager, second from the left, who has to deal with drama queens and stage-frightened children while grappling with his own life choices. At times laugh-out-loud, other times poignant, Ashton succeeds in drawing the audience into the huge auditorium and feeling the wonder of the opera, while empathising with his likeable character.

The setting of Coming In To Land – a hotel lobby in the aftermath of the Tokyo earthquake – might also warrant empathy. But it's hard to feel too much for the characters; a retiring, bitter flight attendant (Nigel Fairs) learning some life lessons from a young buck (Ashton again). The dialogue is as distant as the supposed location and, much like being on a flight, you're relieved when it takes off.