A Jaffa Cake Musical heads back to the Edinburgh Festival following a sell out run in 2024. Jaffa Cake the Musical centres around the 1991 court case which decided whether Jaffa Cakes should be classified as a cake or a biscuit. I must say I remember hearing about this thanks to QI and Stephen Fry.
Jaffa Cake focuses on newly qualified defence lawyer and his previous mentor turned rival prosecution lawyer.
It is a show that cracks on, with the wonderful style of almost farce, but not quite.
The actors play several instruments and flit between that and the scenes, meaning the pace never stops. In fact it’s wonderful to see the band included as extra chorus and they could all sing and harmonise exceptionally well. In fact, let me be very clear, the band was excellent throughout.
Even when a tech issue occurred, the band filled some time, the actors stayed strong throughout, and the said problem was resolved quickly. Very well done to everyone with that.
The stage was simple, but very effective. Balcony style set with the colours of a Jaffa Cake, that came in useful later on...
The songs were catchy and strong, and the cast were pitch perfect. My only issue here was maybe the end should hit a little earlier? At an hour and ten minutes, I just thought it was one, maybe two songs too long.
I have a slight issue with the piece, and that's more with the decision of the story. It's great to see the little guy take on a big business and win. But here, that's simply not the case. We have McVities fighting the Government to basically not have to pay tax. In fairness, they do mock this in the show, and ultimately...it IS a cake so...
The Edinburgh Festival is the largest Arts Festival in the world and how lovely would it be if performers had more help from the government? But as we know, the arts are always the first to be cut. Watching a show about a big company getting around loop holes to not pay tax, felt somehow, a little out of touch.
Overall this is a fun show, with great direction and actors pulling out all the stops.
It just had a questionable theme...
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Jaffa Cake Musical runs at the Edinburgh Fringe until 25th August. https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/jaffa-cake-musical
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