Gigglemug Theatre are the folk who brought us fun fringe musicals such as Timpson: The Musical and Runesical, the Runescape Musical. This year, they’ve come to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with A Jaffa Cake Musical, and it’s been something of a run-away smash.
Not many theatre groups would consider making a musical out of the landmark court case that saw the manufacturers of popular tea-time confection Jaffa Cakes challenge Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs over whether, for tax purposes, a Jaffa Cake was a biscuit or a cake. But then Gigglemug is made out of sterner stuff.
The characters and set-up are pretty simple. We have two rival lawyers who know each other from college and share family-based trauma (though of the comedic kind). Our hero isn’t sure that he can defeat the forces of HMRC, represented by a sinister figure in a top hat. All is lost until it isn’t.
Really, this is just an excuse for an hour of cake- and biscuit-based songs, some rather clever staging, and some utterly wonderful musical numbers. If you stop and think about it for a moment, this is a show celebrating how a very large business tried to avoid paying taxes, but the entire absurdity of the biscuit/cake debate makes for some near-perfect musical numbers.
Sam Cochrane’s songs are lovely, and the show is upbeat and fun throughout. The dry subject matter is turned into something whimsical and fantastic, and we can only imagine how eye wateringly camp this show would be if they had a big budget. It’s worth it for the songs alone; this is one to bring the kids to. Though you may have to buy them cake afterwards.
You can book tickets for the show here and find out more about Gigglemug here.
