Review: 5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE, Town and Gown Cambridge
The title alone intrigues you, right? Let’s just say Besties, you will never look at a quiche in the same way again after watching this production, which is currently playing at the Town and Gown in Cambridge, ahead of a limited run at Birmingham’s Old Joint Stock.
Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder’s bonkers black comedy centres on five women who are members of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein, gathering for the 1956 annual quiche breakfast competition. We, the audience, are also members of the society, labelled up with name tags prior to entering the performance space. When an atomic bomb is dropped outside, the “widows” may be the only survivors so they are forced to face their demons, challenge their sexual identity and work out how to save the human race! All in a day’s work for this quiche-loving quintet.
The fun commences out in the bustling theatre bar with the energetic cast mingling with the audience and distributing mini quiches to willing participants before the show. Accompanied by a pre-show soundtrack of The Puppini Sisters, the tone is set and we are ready for an hour of riotous fun.
Directed by Karl Steele, with assistant direction by James Edge, the show starts with high stakes and manages to maintain this throughout. There are some lovely, well placed technical breaks using lighting and sound to separate the scenes as the cast are on stage for the duration. Every ounce of comedy and sexual innuendo has been carefully extracted from the script and worked on by the talented cast, who have to occasionally work a little harder to compete with the audience’s raucous reaction, disrupting the flow at times momentarily. Being the opening night and the first time in front of a crowd however, this should settle going forward.
One of the biggest achievements of this piece is the strength of characterisation in each individual role. Eleanor Griffiths (Dale), Violeta Valverde (Wren), Perdita Lawton (Lulie), Eleanor Thompson (Ginny) and Florence Lace-Evans (Vern) are a force to be reckoned with and have been perfectly cast by the Town and Gown team. It would be nigh on impossible to single anyone out because they are all so different yet work seamlessly as a single unit collectively. The comedic timing is excellent across the board and their occasionally unscripted responses are intelligent and appropriate.
A riotous romp of a show not to be missed.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Jenny Ell
5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche plays at the Town and Gown until 13 August, with tickets available here, followed by the Old Joint Stock from 17-20 August here.
