A Jaffa Cake Musical at Pleasance Courtyard – Edinburgh Fringe review

There’s been some great courtroom scenes in theatre – 12 Angry Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, Parade feel like obvious examples. Hit company Gigglemug aim to add to the canon with A Jaffa Cake Musical, based on the very real 1991 court case between the multimillion pound-company McVitie’s and HMRC, about whether that quintessential British snack, the Jaffa Cake, should be classed as a cake (and is therefore exempt from VAT) or a biscuit (and therefore taxable under HMRC rules).

It’s a fantastic true story (and well worth reading up on) that is here distilled down by writer Sam Cochrane into an hour-long legal caper. With a hard-working cast of five, things follow a fairly standard courtroom drama structure – opening statements, witnesses, arguments and verdicts delivered with straightforward poise and typical plucky lawyer angst.

Overly cartoonish at times (the taxman is scary and bad!), it’s a safe, earnest show that rattles through its premise and plot line with unrelenting drive. Under the watch of director Ali James, the innate comedy (and sheer ludicrousness) of the concept is occasionally lost. It’s hard not to shake the feeling that the company could have been even more ambitious and outrageous with its material here.

Tunes are witty and hummable (the lyrics of a Hamilton “Cabinet Battle”-esque number are especially good), with some great performances from the five company members. There are a few genuinely inventive moments – the fact that new barrister Kevin (Cochrane) has to deal with pushy parents (they wanted him to become a musical theatre actor, darn it!) is an excellent running gag.

Another solid string on the Gigglemug bow, this already feels like a Fringe hit and a big winner with Edinburgh audiences: while there was perhaps more mileage to be explored in A Jaffa Cake Musical, here’s a company that knows how to have its cake and eat it.

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