How to Make a Mess Review – Nigella Lawson’s music is irrelevant | Theater

A songs about Nigella Lawson it makes sense – after all, the eloquent domestic goddess, she feels like a theatrical creation. Again, channeling her endless energy into a production comes with challenges, especially when she’s not the star of the show — as in the hilarious but flawed play by Emily Rose Simons.

Anna’s estranged mother has just died and is ignoring calls from her father, who left when Anna was a child. As she opens her favorite cookbook, Nigella’s How to Eat, her happy-go-lucky author steps out of the kitchen cupboard to help Anna deal with her grief, reconnect with her father and take care of herself – all while learning to cook.

Is it Anna’s grand plan or – since Nigella can conjure up thunder and stop trains – maybe something magical? This silly Nigella is perhaps the biggest problem in the production, directed by Grace Taylor. Tanya Truman’s performance defies all caricature, even if it exists and Nigella-isms, during which Anna (Natasha Karp) sarcastically explains to her: “What are you doing with my fridge?” he complains as Nigella hugs his door seductively, describing a crow in the middle of the night as happiness.

But Nigella is not someone Anna can relate to. There are hints in the moving song Nobody Like My Mother, about the difficult mothers of all these women, but Nigella remains the perfect teacher that Anna treats her with contempt – making her transformation impossible or, at the very least, difficult.

The script also spends too much time documenting Anna’s history, depression and food intolerance, which leaves little time for actual cooking. I longed to see her healing powers at work in Christianna Mason’s kitchen – kneading the healing bread or the nourishing sensation of baking one cake – but, aside from the mayonnaise, Anna’s growth as a cook and as a person is represented by the food pulled from the cupboards.

Simons’ musical has a big Broadway heart, with great singing from both leads. But the songs don’t differ too much to be worms, and the lines that cross often leave the (sometimes funny) lyrics hard to pin down.

The show’s ingredients are promising, and the ending is a surprising surprise, which delves into the culinary aspects of Anna’s Jewish heritage. But it can benefit from more time in the test kitchen.