Review, A Jaffa Cake Musical, Gigglemug Theatre, Pleasance Courtyard, Ed Fringe, By Hannah Goslin

 out of 5 stars (3 / 5)

An age old argument – is the beloved Jaffa Cake a biscuit or a cake? While 1991 saw the trial to determine this fact, it is still debated today, along with the pronunciation of scone. A typical British part of society.

Gigglemug take this story, and, with original songs, a dash of comedy and a whole bunch of silliness, create a musical. It has all the quirks of a musical: some subtle innuendo (enough for the adults, but discreet enough to go over the children’s head), choreographed dance and song and astounding vocals. It is clear that each of these performers are well versed in musicals and have a talent to translate this into a new and previously un-ventured territory as a Jaffa Cake tribunal.

To condense within 1 hour, we are sped through the origin story and the establishing of the relationships, and so, it can be forgiven that this seems to hold little room compared to the crux of the story. However, it felt a little like the relate-ability and an arch in the relationships was slightly missing, leaving these parts of the production to feel a little shoe-horned in. I imagine, a longer production could develop this more and we would then understand and identify with the competing solicitors more.

The original songs were well written and performed exceptionally – the hint of cheekiness, some funny comments, all helping to add to the story; they hit every element of what musicals provide to the audience in terms of narrative and entertainment.

The staging was clever – pieces of a Jaffa cake which were movable throughout and repurposed, there was certainly a theme of orange and brown and it was all very stylish, versatile and clever.

A Jaffa Cake Musical is silly and fun, with hummable tunes and is certainly at a point where it could be transferred to a bigger stage to fill out its potential.

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