Wilmas Rating *****
Landor Theatre
A musical about tea and cake…. what more could you ask for?
The Bakewell Bake Off is a new musical spin off of the much loved TV show The Great British Bake Off.
Seven eager contestants, three feuding judges and one bewildered hostess are seen under the pressure of their annual bake off, where signature bakes combine with song and dance in a fantastic feast of fun.
Set in a the town hall of Bakewell and hosted by the little ray of northern sunshine that is Victoria Sponge (Alexandra Spalding) the competition starts on the count of ready, steady, bake!
A German transvestite (Henrietta Apfelstrudel), a girl obsessed with everything Christmas (Holly Berry), the postman (Freddie Twist) and the local doctor in the town (Pradeepta Smith) are just some of the contestants in the Bake Off.
But if you look beneath the icing of this musical cake, you find a sweet and sentimental reason for why each of the contestants bakes. Whether it is to be accepted into their families, into our country or to win the love of fellow bakers, each contestant has a special reason for being there.
The Bakewell Bake Off is flawless. Written by 11 students at Guildford School of Acting, this show is a hilarious, easy watch musical, with innuendos around every corner. The audience are required to stand for The Bakewell Anthem at the start of the show and by the time we get to the raffle at the start of act 2, the audience are more than engaged and one lucky person even gets to decide the winner of the competition. However the audience are privy to some vital information that host Victoria isn’t and whether the audience member will own up to it or keep quiet remains to be seen.
The Bakewell Bake Off has transferred to the Landor Theatre for a three week run following a successful stint at the Waterloo East Theatre. Fresh new writing like this, by such young talent, deserves to be seen and I urge everyone to pop along for a fun filled evening (and maybe even a slice of cake).