SOME MASTERCHEF SH*T
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
★★★★★
“infused with delicate, tight writing, lightning-quick dialogue, and refreshingly honest, natural banter”
Dark comedy, dark coffee, dark corner, dark encounter, and a dark post on the dark internet converge the lives of Adam and Luke—two divergent, lost souls each looking for a way forward. Adam is a surgeon trapped in a vegan relationship with his fiancée and desperate for some new culinary adventures. Luke is a socially awkward server who barely knows his flatmates, yet wants to do something kind and significant before his final course. Oil meets water in this well-blended emulsion that marvellously holds together and does not separate.
In a fashion only found at the Fringe, Some Master Chef Sh*t serves up an hilarious and tender queer deconstruction of the classic one—well, two, perhaps even three—night encounter. These are not the kinds of recipes you’d ask a mate to email you, and the “farm-to-table” ingredient of this particular rendezvous is not the dining experience most of us fantasise about fully swallowing. Yet this quick-witted meal of a show possesses remarkable charm and depth in both its blueprint and process. Over the course of 60 minutes, these characters confront their fears of losing parts of themselves. The looming prospect of significant loss allows them to discover what was missing, what was previously lost, and what was never before found.
Written by Liam High, the work is infused with delicate, tight writing, lightning-quick dialogue, and refreshingly honest, natural banter. G and J Productions clearly understand how to sculpt with pace and dynamic. This is a show with a strong visual language, clear and well-executed lighting and sound design, and a set of twelve rectangular cubes that are rearranged to transport us seamlessly from one location to the next. The show is well punctuated, scenically choreographed, and underscored by dance house music—creating an entangled tango, an intimate search for inner calm, or perhaps the elusive recipe for how to move forward.
If someone were to hand you a flyer and tell you what this show was about, you might think, “Not the cup of tea I’d order in this coffee shop.” But then again—perhaps, in art as in life—we need to learn, like these characters do, that surrender and permission are the necessary missing ingredients.
Fast-paced, clever, grounded in great chemistry between performers, supported by a smart script and an elegantly charming, well-trained acting style, this show has a solid armature. There’s much to love in this literally “queer” love story. At the Fringe, there are many shows you might swipe left on, or pretend you don’t remember the morning after. With this one? Definitely swipe right. Hook up with it. Own it. Make it part of your theatre diet.
SOME MASTERCHEF SH*T
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Reviewed on 1st August 2025 at Jade Studio at Greenside @ George Street
by Louis Kavouras
Photography by Kelsea Knox
