A JAFFA CAKE MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

“It’s a very fun, very silly hour of musical comedy that’s super self-aware and makes the most of this”

Following their previous musical hits Timpson: The Musical and RuneSical, Gigglemug Theatre are back, this time with a musical based on one of the nation’s favourite biscuits… sorry, I mean cakes. This musical comedy uses the real-life case of the 1991 tribunal in which HMRC took Jaffa Cakes to court, claiming that they needed to pay VAT as the product is a biscuit, not a cake (which are exempt from this particular tax). It’s actually a pretty interesting court case, which you can read all about online. But if a musical is more your thing, then definitely make sure to catch this one.

Kevin (Sam Cochrane) is a lawyer, having disappointed his parents who wanted him to pursue a career as a musical theatre performer (a running gag in the show). He’s the defence in this case, up against Katherine (Sabrina Messer) as the prosecution. The task is simple: Kevin has to convince the judge (Alex Prescot, also on keys) that the Jaffa is in fact a cake, not a biscuit. On the way, he has to battle with the presence of the evil Tax Man, played by the utterly hilarious Katie Pritchard.

The songs are super upbeat, starting with the fabulous opening where the cast belt out ‘Is it a cake or is it a biscuit?’. The silliness is very much there from the start, as the actors come on wearing brown and orange costumes, on a set that is fully painted in Jaffa-cake branded colours. There’s a really nifty set design from Lauren Jones with three semi-circular set pieces which are used to setup the court and then moved around in one number to create different shapes, with a very clever use in the final scene that I shan’t spoil (although you may be able to guess!).

The lyrics (also by Sam Cochrane) are witty, playful and downright silly, with lines like ‘What if I wind up dead? / What if I crap the bed’ setting the general comic tone of the whole show. The standout song comes from Pritchard, who sings about being the ‘Tax Man’, a deliciously dark and funny villain number with some incredible riffs. The songs are matched with quirky choreography in Ali James’s production which gives a zany cartoonish type quality to the characters that’s a lot of fun to watch.

There’s also a surprising amount of heart in this story. I don’t know if it’s just the fringe-fatigue, but the show gets proper emotional at the end, with the cast singing out ‘If a cake can be a biscuit, you can be anything’. Who would’ve thought a musical about Jaffa Cakes would give me goosebumps? As well as the standout performance from Pritchard, Prescot shows off his multi-talented skills, playing the Judge and other supporting characters to great comic effect, whilst also on keys for most of the show.

It’s a very fun, very silly hour of musical comedy that’s super self-aware and makes the most of this. A great pick for a day at the Edinburgh Fringe.

A JAFFA CAKE MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Pleasance Courtyard – Courtyard Two

Reviewed on 17th August 2024

by Joseph Dunitz

Photography by Ben Wilkin

A JAFFA CAKE MUSICAL

A JAFFA CAKE MUSICAL

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