How to Make a Mess | Upstairs at the Gatehouse

How to Make a Mess is a brand new love letter to the power of cooking and eating well, and the british icon Nigella Lawson.

This endearing new musical explores what grief can do to a person and the fear of being an independent adult when you just don't feel quite ready yet. Written by Emily Rose Simmons, this piece feels authentic and honest with an incredibly british flare. Yet, it is still undercooked and could use more time in the microwave before it is fully ready to be served.

Through the piece we follow Anna, played by Natasha Karp, along her journey in cooking and grief, one that is very confrontational and revealing. Yet, Anna as a character feels very stagnant throughout; we miss a significant journey in character for a large amount of the show. For the majority of the musical we see Anna reject every offer that comes her way and build humongous walls from any connections, and whilst this is true to the experience of grief, it becomes slightly monotonous at moments and makes it challenging for the audience to connect with our protagonist.

Whilst Karp plays her with a cheeky humorous edge and delivers a gorgeous vocal, this blockage through her character's emotional arc does no favours to herself or the audience, which is a shame as there is real potential to adore this funny, strong willed yet broken woman. This is truly no fault of Karp, and she still manages to deliver a performance that will certainly speak to and affect audiences in many ways, layering grief and denial in an authentic and touching manner.

Karp's counterpart, Tanya Truman, is deliciously scandalous as Nigella Lawson, loaded with camp and confidence, Truman is able to command the space with true Nigella essence. Truman embodies the raucous, sultry aspect of Nigella with excellence, however sometimes falls distant when it comes to sitting back and listening.

Additionally, whilst Truman and Karp have a fantastically cheeky chemistry throughout their scene work, there are a few moments where their vocals didn’t quite click as a duet and felt more like two soloists singing at the same time; whilst they both sounded beautiful, more of a mix between the two of them would have allowed the overlapping melodies and lyrics to kick the audiences in the powerful ways they were clearly intended to.

These slight bumps in the piece are a shame as there are some incredibly funny and powerful moments throughout, they just unfortunately stall slightly when hitting these markers.

Lyrically, there are some fantastic moments, such as when Nigella Lawson sings about Gu Ramekins (something that should be sung about much more frequently within musical theatre) and whilst some choruses and melodies may fall into cliches, it works really well within this piece's stylisation. Simmons clearly knew the angle she was taking for the piece and it paid off musically, especially with the fantastic work from the 3-piece on stage band who elevate the score to some gorgeous heights. There is a really strong element of fun throughout, such as Nigella's glittery cupboard (the highlight of Christiana Mason's gorgeous set design) and when the material mixes with Grace Taylor's direction to really allow those moments to linger is when the piece soars.

Yes, there are some incredibly thought provoking moments too that facilitate conversations about religion mixed with grief and familiar expectations but they still feel as if they need some further development and interpolation throughout the piece to make them truly ferment with audiences.

Whilst there is still some roasting, toasting and seasoning to be done for this piece to fully meet Nigella's high expectations of how to eat well, there is still a lot of light in this show and it feels very special; this will be one to watch as it develops further thanks to its originality and british campness.

How to Make a Mess should definitely be seen whilst it's still warm, but soon this show will be nice and hot once it's gone back in the oven and the recipe is completed with some further trust in the material, campness and openness to collaboration.

How to Make a Mess plays at Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 28th June - tickets and more information can be found here.

★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Danny Kaan