The Gigglemug Theatre company returns to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with a new musical dealing with one of the doughiest cases in the history of British justice. Guillermo Nazara chats with one of its lead actors, to learn all the fun facts about this bakery-based show, guaranteed to give you at least a few crumbs of comfort.
The sugariest trial in UK’s history is about to sweeten up the Edinburgh Fringe stage. Are audiences really in for a treat?
Yes! It’s a perfect blend of catchy tunes and outrageous legal arguments – we think it’ll be an utter joy for the whole family.
Has the making of this musical actually been a piece of cake?
Like every good cake, it’s required a lot of work behind the scenes writing the recipe (book and music), getting the right ingredients (cast & creative team) and then practicing baking (rehearsals) before we let audience sample our final product (the show!). But hey, it’s like that old saying – if you love Jaffa Cakes and are lucky enough to be in a musical about them, you’ll never work a day in your life!
How much artistic license has been taken from the real story?
It’s all been inspired by the real arguments that were used in the court case (you can look them up afterwards!), but we have also gone off-recipe with some extra details sprinkled here and there (e.g. in the real story, nobody sung songs but in the musical, we do).
A show made by a company specialized in “seriously silly” musicals. How silly are we talking about this time?
Pretty silly you know! The great thing is that the real story sounds almost too good to be true so we have harnessed that real-life silliness and injected it with Gigglemug’s trademark zaniness and musical fun. But I would encourage audiences to bring their own Silly-ometers to test the silliness for themselves.
What’s new to expect in comparison to Gigglemug’s previous productions?
The show is pretty much sung through, so we’re talking less chit chat and more sing song for your buck. We’ve never done a courtroom musical before either, so it’ll be fun to parody and play with the conventions of other courtroom dramas like Witness for The Prosecution and, crucially, Wagatha Christie.
What, would you say, are the highest points of this production?
The Tax Man song is a real showstopper, and I love The Confrontation too (the song, not the moment when I realise someone has eaten the last Jaffa in rehearsals).
Why come see A Jaffa Cake Musical?
It’s fun, it’s family friendly, it’s a joyful, escapist hour that will get your toe tapping and your brain buzzing – I’m still untangling the legal arguments as we speak! It’s a judicial nightmare! Oh also, if you fancy seeing another fun family friendly show, I’m doing a solo musical comedy show Alex Prescot: I’ve Got A Song About That every morning at 10:20 at City Café, with different comedians opening each day and several songs improvised on the spot!
A Jaffa Cake Musical will play at the Pleasance Theatre from 31 July to 26 August. Tickets are available on the following link.
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