SMALL IS EPIC

In his exceptional how-to book Storyworthy, author and storyteller Matthew Dicks advises us to stop recounting tales that few can relate to — like the time you climbed Mt. Everest — and instead share stories that help others see themselves in similar moments. That’s how a story connects. Robert Montano does exactly that, and more, in a show at The Old Globe that enveloped me with its charm.

Montano’s one-man event Small walks an unusual line. It’s not quite a traditional play, with characters revealing the story through dialogue, nor is it a standard storytelling event in the mold of The Moth or San Diego’s So Say We All (primarily with non-moving orators). Instead, Montano fuses the best of both forms, blending performance and narration into something more potent than either alone.

Across ninety-plus minutes, he masterfully shifts among four distinct perspectives: He plays himself between the ages of nine and twenty-one; He narrates as that younger self, often using present tense with striking immediacy, especially when describing his bond with a horse; He embodies the people around young Bobby, responding to and shaping his path; and he steps out of the story entirely, speaking as his present-day self, a man in his mid-sixties (though his energy barely suggests fifty). His effortless movement between these layers is both fascinating and exhilarating.

The story begins in suburban Long Island in 1973, where young Bobby prays for a growth spurt to catch up with the kids who bully him. When he discovers the world of horse racing, he finds a place where smallness isn’t a liability—it’s a prerequisite. As Bobby falls in love with the sport, its discipline, and the horses themselves, it’s impossible not to look at the six-foot actor before us and anticipate the heartbreak to come. Yet Bobby’s determination not to give up is astonishing.

Montano portrays roughly ten other characters, including both parents (his flamboyant Puerto Rican mother, Gloria, is a highlight), two neighbors, a prostitute, and several racetrack figures, among them the renowned Mexican jockey Robert A. Pineda. The set by Christoph and Justin Swader is minimal, allowing Montano to transform locations instantly with a prop, a garment, or even a physical shift. Having seen clips from more conventional stagings of Small, one can imagine the challenge he and director Jessi D. Hill faced in adapting it for theatre-in-the-round. The result perfectly matches Montano’s contained yet kinetic energy, mirroring Bobby’s own sense of entrapment, as he loops around the small stage and even the staircases. Sound designer Brian Ronan deepens the storytelling with cues that heighten tension, from the thundering crowds of race day to the near silence of Bobby stepping onto a scale yet again.

To say Montano throws himself into the performance understates it. By curtain, he’s drenched from sheer exertion, but anything less would have diminished the impact.

Great storytelling awakens the senses, and Montano excels at that, from the sound of the track and the sight of a horse up close, to the smell of manure, the taste of dry lettuce, and the scrape of bare feet in the stirrups. Every sensory detail pulls us deeper into his world.

Many productions that run over ninety minutes without intermission overstay their welcome. Small isn’t one of them. The time races by, propelled by Montano’s precision and momentum. A pause would only break the spell.

The run is brief, which is unfortunate, because word will surely spread about how remarkable this show is just as it’s about to close. Small is a performance that actors, storytellers, directors, and playwrights can all learn from — and one that anyone can be thoroughly moved and entertained by.

photos by Rich Soublet II

Small
The White Theatre at The Old Globe
1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park
Tues-Thurs at 7; Fri at 8; Sat at 2 & 8; Sun at 2 & 7
ends on September 7, 2025
for tickets, call 619.437.6000 or visit The Old Globe