Review: 'Waitress'

 by Lorcan Bonser-Wilton

Over the summer, I had the privilege of seeing ‘Waitress’ at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. Based on the 2007 film by Adrienne Shelley, the musical tells the story of downtrodden pie waitress Jenna, who tries to navigate the tribulations of a busy job, a surprise pregnancy and a coercive relationship. It has a witty, humorous script that also packs a number of emotional punches, and its score is a potent mix of emotional ballads and feel-good tunes. I particularly loved the band on stage, including a double bassist! Aside from that, there is a creative set lined with pies, which were provided by M&S according to the programme! 

Leading the cast as Jenna was Chelsea Halfpenny, who had incredible vocal strength and a very strong performance in what can be considered a draining and difficult role. We had an understudy (Aimée Fisher) for the role of Dawn. I found her acting skills to be her greatest strength, as she could be convincingly anxious and awkward with touches of sweetness. This made for both sympathy and humour at times. The character of Becky was portrayed by Wendy Mae Brown. She played the character with integrity and humour in her speech, mannerisms and her noticeably powerful singing. Ogie, the man who attempts to court Dawn (with often hilarious results) was played by George Crawford. Crawford’s portrayal of the character was brilliantly funny and over-the-top, including a healthy bit of Irish dancing in the middle of a song! Two characters that also provided the story great comic relief were Cal (played by Christopher D. Hunt) and Old Joe (Michael Stark), and the latter also gives wisdom to Jenna at times. The character of Earl is the ‘villain’ of the play, however he is not meant to be played to villainous proportions and instead is meant to be realistic and representative of domestic abusers in the real world. While he was not likeable, Tamlyn Henderson played Earl to great effect, showing the horrendous manipulation of coercive control without feeling too over-the-top or exaggerating unnecessarily. David Hunter portrayed Dr Pomatter was brilliant, as while he could bring the character’s awkward nature in spades, he could also portray sensitivity and provide some depth alongside simply being funny. Finally, as with many West End and Broadway shows, the ensemble was incredibly underrated, and they were great and multi-purpose, which I always enjoy. 

In conclusion, there’s more to Waitress than sugar, butter and flour, and it only takes a taste to get the urge to start clapping along to many of the songs (I’m sorry, I’ll stop the bad puns!). It is a brilliant show with a stonking score and script, and I found it incredibly enjoyable. I thoroughly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the original film or of musicals in general.