It’s a conversation many thought had been put to bed, is a Jaffa Cake a biscuit, as its appearance would imply, or a cake as the name suggests? The fact that Gigglemug Theatre have written a musical about the real-life trial from which this debate stemmed is both wonderfully bonkers and borderline genius.
A Jaffa Cake Musical is brought to life by five performers (Sam Cochrane, Sabrina Messer, Harry Miller, Alex Prescot and Katie Pritchard), each playing several different roles, and though it's certainly not the first instance we’ve seen in recent years of this particular formula, it still manages to bring us a brilliant fresh mix of satire, pastiche and good old nostalgia, with references to HMRC, Star Wars, and the famous “full moon” advert. The laughs began at a simmer initially, but there was a gradual build, and by the finale everyone was laughing rapturously.
This is a show that is completely candid about how silly it is, but simultaneously there is some brilliant musical writing, and absolutely wonderful harmonies executed flawlessly by this superbly funny cast. And like with a lot of fringe shows, the costumes and set can best be described as low budget, however the quality of storytelling was so good your sense of disbelief is easily suspended.
The accompaniment comprises a solitary piano, not unlike Ordinary Days or [Title of Show], but what sets this apart is the range of musical genres covered in such a short space of time, not to mention several members of the cast all contribute towards keyboard playing duties, making this feel like a true ensemble piece. If shows like Operation Mincemeat and Police Cops can have substantial lives beyond their initial runs, there’s absolutely no reason why A Jaffa Cake Musical couldn’t experience further evolution beyond its Edinburgh run.
A Jaffa Cake Musical runs at Pleasance Courtyard at 15:10pm until 26th August - for more information and tickets, you can follow the link here.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
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