★★★½

“Funny, moving and musically rich”

A small-town diner, a troubled marriage and a gift for baking pies might not sound like the ingredients for a hit musical, but Waitress proves otherwise. Jessie Nelson adapts the 2007 film by Adrienne Shelly for the stage, with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles. The result blends sharp humour, broad comedy and a richly melodic score into something contemporary and emotionally engaging, even if it occasionally struggles to reconcile its shifting tones.

At its centre is Jenna, played by Carrie Hope Fletcher, a waitress whose talent for pie-making becomes a form of expression, escape and ultimately self-determination. Fletcher delivers a performance of real assurance, her vocals soaring with clarity and control while keeping Jenna grounded and recognisable. There is steel beneath the warmth, giving weight to the character’s choices without losing the show’s lighter touch.

Jenna is trapped in an unhappy marriage to Earl while working at a local diner alongside her friends Becky and Dawn. When she discovers she is pregnant, her sense of being stuck deepens, until the arrival of Dr Pomatter complicates matters further. As their relationship develops, Jenna begins to imagine a different future for herself, one shaped as much by friendship and small acts of courage as by romance.

Around her, the supporting cast adds texture and energy. Sandra Marvin’s Becky is wry, warm and sharply observed, while Evelyn Hoskins brings offbeat charm to Dawn; both shine in their solos, When He Sees Me and I Didn’t Plan It, showcasing vocal range and character depth. Dan O’Brien’s Cal, the diner’s brusque but caring manager, provides a steady comic presence. Dan Partridge’s Dr Pomatter is likeable and easy-going, his scenes with Fletcher carrying a gentle if somewhat idealised chemistry within what is ultimately a more troubling dynamic than the musical fully interrogates. Alongside him, Ellie Ruiz Rodriguez steals scenes as Nurse Norma, leaning fully into the role’s comic potential. Mark Anderson impresses as Ogie, Dawn’s boyfriend, his Never Getting Rid of Me bursting with invention even if its premise – his refusal to take no for an answer – feels slightly uneasy. Les Dennis brings quiet poignancy to Old Joe, his solo Take It From an Old Man delivered with warmth and lived-in humanity, while Mark Wilshire ensures Earl feels uncomfortably real rather than simply villainous.

It is this darker undercurrent that gives the show its bite, though it occasionally feels uneven. Beneath the sugary surface lie serious themes – domestic abuse, coercive control, dementia, infidelity, financial insecurity, generational trauma, stalking and sexual misconduct. Some are central to Jenna’s journey, while others are lightly brushed aside or played for humour, creating an imbalance that prevents the piece from fully landing.

Bareilles’ score is the beating heart of the show, effortlessly moving between ensemble numbers and introspective solos. The songs feel fully integrated into the storytelling. Choreography by Lorin Latarro complements the storytelling with organic, character-driven movement, and the on-stage band under musical direction Stephen Hill adds immediacy and warmth.

Direction by Diane Paulus keeps the production fluid and engaging, allowing humour and pathos to sit side by side, even if the tonal balance occasionally wobbles. Design by Scott Pask captures the lived-in familiarity of the diner, with a flexible set that shifts smoothly between locations. Lighting by Ken Billington subtly shapes mood and focus, while costumes by Suttirat Anne Larlarb ground the characters in a recognisable world. Waitress is a feel-good musical at its heart, following Jenna’s journey with warmth and humour, yet it carries enough complexity to give the story depth. Funny, moving and musically rich, it balances sweetness with just enough bite, even if it does not always explore its darker themes fully.

SINGLE WHITE FEMALE

Theatre Royal Brighton

★★★

“lively and watchable, with enough intrigue to carry it through”

Remember the 80s and 90s thrillers that spawned the ‘…from hell’ craze, where flatmates, temps, stepparents, nannies or neighbours could turn deadly? I do, and I confess to a soft spot for the overwrought psychological thriller. Single White Female (1992), with Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh going head to head as warring flatmates, is one I remember fondly. Rebecca Reid’s stage adaptation brings the story into a 21st-century UK shaped by two decades of social media, where entire lives, or curated versions of them, are easily tracked.

At its heart, the play is a domestic thriller about obsession, loneliness and the fragile dynamics of family. A seemingly ordinary living arrangement between Allie and Hedy spirals into a battle of trust, boundaries and control, creating a constant low-level unease that rarely rises into full-blown suspense.

Lisa Faulkner plays Allie, a recently divorced mother juggling parenthood with the pressures of launching a tech start-up. Kym Marsh stars as Hedy, the lodger brought in to help cover mortgage payments on the high-rise London apartment shared with Allie’s stroppy teenage daughter Bella, played convincingly by Amy Snudden. Hedy is outwardly charming and attentive, gradually revealing a more unsettling side, particularly where Bella is concerned. The relationship between Hedy and Allie forms the heart of the play, a push and pull of trust and dependence, yet the dynamic never quite acquires the lived-in tension needed to sharpen the thriller’s edge.

Much is made in the publicity of social media’s role in enabling obsession, though this remains more discussed than dramatised. What lands more convincingly is its impact on fifteen-year-old Bella, for whom bullying no longer ends at the school gate. Her storyline becomes one of the production’s stronger strands, positioning her as both participant and pawn in the power struggle between her parents and Hedy.

The focus on the central female relationship creates a tense triangle between Allie, Hedy and Bella, leaving the two male roles peripheral. Jonny McGarrity’s Sam, a recovering alcoholic ex now expecting another child, and Andro’s Graham, Allie’s gay best friend and business partner, feel lightly sketched, more as foils than fully realised characters. The script attempts to deepen Sam’s character through brief flashbacks, with Allie and Sam stepping outside the apartment to replay fragments of their marriage. These snapshots complicate the image of the relationship Allie presents, though they feel more illustrative than revelatory. As in the original film, the production ultimately belongs to the two women.

Director Gordon Greenberg keeps the pacing brisk, balancing moments of menace with domestic detail, though much of the play’s atmosphere comes from the interplay of set and sound. Morgan Large’s single open-plan apartment appears modern but subtly unstable: a window that will not fully close lets traffic drift in, electricity flickers unpredictably, and a picture frequently slip from its fixings. The lift clanks and grinds, while the brittle buzz of the entry system punctuates the action, emphasising the fragility of both the building and its occupants. Max Pappenheim’s sound design and score heighten the emotional stakes, using music like a film score to underscore fear, tension and escalating psychological pressure. Together, set and sound transform the flat into an almost sentient presence, echoing the strain between Allie, Hedy and Bella and amplifying Hedy’s escalating plan.

The second act leans into excess, prompting laughter that feels part nervous release, part response to moments of over-the-top melodrama. It is not subtle and often veers into OTT territory, recalling the lurid thrillers of the 80s and 90s. Shocks arrive, but the suspense rarely sustains, and the themes of obsession and belonging never fully land. Still, the production remains lively and watchable, with enough intrigue to carry it through even when later plot turns stray into the ridiculous.

Tag Archives: Theatre Royal Brighton

WAITRESS

★★★½

UK Tour

WAITRESS

Theatre Royal Brighton

★★★½

“Funny, moving and musically rich”

WAITRESS

Theatre Royal Brighton then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 7th April 2026

by Ellen Cheshire

Photography by Johan Persson

WAITRESS

WAITRESS

WAITRESS

SINGLE WHITE FEMALE

★★★

UK Tour

SINGLE WHITE FEMALE

Theatre Royal Brighton

★★★

“lively and watchable, with enough intrigue to carry it through”