At Home with Mrs Moneypenny

Mrs. Moneypenny, a former banker (boo, hiss), writes a column in the FT. This show is part lecture, part storytelling and part cookery demonstration. A benign Fanny Craddock with a Johnny, who does all the work. The likeable, Mrs. M can’t stoop to mixing meringues in her couture dress and Asprey brooch.

Mrs. Moneypenny is much taxed with matters financial and indeed calls her sons, not by name but Cost Centre One, (i.e. drain on resources) etc. We met Cost Centres One and Three, who seem very well adjusted.

The show takes place in the Aga showroom. I have never been at a Fringe show where the performer asks the audiences how many of them own one. A surprising number did, in various colours.

Mrs. M shoots, pilots a plane, runs businesses and funds the family holiday to Scotland by putting on a show. As most fringe shows tend to espouse a fairly lefty message, this is possibly one of the most anarchic to be seen in Edinburgh – by the fact it is here in the first place.

The show is funny, quirky and, like the eats distributed during the course of the performance, oddly satisfying.