“I’d have never known cakes could taste so sour”. When Madeleine, Victoria and Charlotte – yes, they are the ‘cakes’ their mother refers to in the previous quote – are reunited for the first time in years, it seems a recipe for disaster. A sterling playwriting debut by Mel Giedroyc, this domestic drama contains all the ingredients for an amusing hour. While the three female actors often resort to high-pitched arguing, the drawling voice-over of their comatose mother recites her specific formula for making a Victoria sponge. With a tight narrative unfolding cleverly into a darkly funny nightmare, we begin to realise that the hold of the dying mother over these sisters runs far deeper than being OCD about cake-mixture.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4-27 Aug (not 13, 20), 1.00pm.
tw rating 4/5 | [Stephanie Taylor]

Sections: by Stephanie Taylor - ED2012 Theatre Reviews - tw rating 4/5 | Tags: Gilded Balloon, Gilded Balloon Productions

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