Clearly the packed audience found it all very tasty, they laughed a lot and were undoubtedly charmed by the shenanigans going on in the bakery. But was it a bakery? Our two collaborators crept into the bakers shop to find no one there. They’d been sent there as temps. From the offset writer/performers Kitty Hughes, the one with the sparkly eyes and Alice Downing, the blonde one showed an easy rapport between themselves and their audience.
The fun started as they toured the empty bakers shop. They wondered at the battered oven. They started to ‘play’ with the baking instruments. After fun with a rolling pin and mixing bowls on heads, some slapstick throwing things and a dual with tea towels, Dani/Kitty gave birth to a loaf of bread, an easy delivery. Soon the two of them celebrated its first birthday with a lighted candle.
Then the third character in the play was introduced to us – a Flip Chart in the corner of the stage. Some of the arguments the girls had with the chart were near hilarious.
We were given a quick, very amusing introduction to the female reproduction system. Later egg boxes became part of a multi-birth. They had already been introduced with a touch of panache earlier in the show.
The charm continued, clearly a very close relationship was building up between these two former strangers. In fact when Billie/Alice suggests she goes outside for a few moments to have a fag, Dani panics and is reluctant to let her go. She does eventually go; a three-minute timer is set. It goes off – No Billie!
When Billie does return she has been on an ‘around the world’ adventure. They celebrate her return with a hysterical sex scene that almost wanders into farcical porn. They are both excellent physical entertainers.
They judge that their time is up and treat us to a romping finale. They have more that won the hearts of their audience.
They didn’t completely win me over. I felt the script had a touch of struggling improvisation at times. The performances and the direction demanded a bit more polish to give the show a really strong professional magic. A lot of promise here, I shall look forward to seeing how the great enthusiasm as Big Loop Theatre develops.
Presented by Big Loop Theatre Company | Written and performed by Allie Downing and Kitty Hughes | Directed by Duncan Hallis