Writer and Director: Gabrielle Hofmann
It is difficult to decipher the tone that writer and director Gabrielle Hofmann aims for in their 45-minute ensemble piece, Stale Cake. The show blurb describes it as having the “dark wit of a sitcom”, which feels odd because the characters are not quirky enough to fit the genre, and the humour is often unintended. Perhaps a tongue-in-cheek take on steamy melodrama fits better, though there is so much florid sexual tension in the piece that it is hard to tell whose tongue will end up in whose cheek.
Former and current university housemates are gathering to mark a year since the death of their erstwhile friend and roomie, Jake, in a car crash. “Squashed like a bug”, the drunk and soon-to-be-drunker Archie (Dennis Msatida) tells us matter-of-factly, suggesting he might no longer be as grief-stricken as he claims. Archie is making suggestive, lingering eyes at Noah (Habil Yaldaz), though it may be the booze. Noah, who tells us he “felt seen” by Jake, is grieving the departed’s nocturnal visits to his room, where they lay next to each other and chatted long into the night – all entirely innocent, Noah claims, though one struggles to credit it.
Meanwhile, Jake’s former girlfriend, Olivia (Tara Korda Kolar), still grieves her loss. “I feel like the black widow without the murdering,” she tells us, which begs a few questions to which we do not get answers. On the plus side, she still has the hots for Thomas (Gruff Gwyn), with whom she was having an affair when Jake died. Thomas spills wine over her. “It’s not the first time I’ve been wet around you,” Olivia confides huskily, much to the chagrin of Thomas’s new girlfriend, Daisy (Alice Barker), who has misunderstood the meaning of ‘anniversary’ and brought a birthday cake by mistake.
Revelations ensue, events spiral, and neither the birthday cake nor any vestige of narrative coherence will survive the evening. One feels writer Hofmann may have a future writing pacey bonkbuster novels, or storylining a sexed-up Bridgerton.
Runs until 21 August 2025
Camden Fringe runs until 24 August 2025
4 Comments
After having seen the show just tonight, I’m not too sure how valid this review as it feels like we haven’t seen the same show. I’m appalled by how this review only focuses on sexual content which wasn’t there. Because in the show I saw, there was only one kiss where the man cried into her shoulder. It also feels strange how this review has sexualised all the queer characters as none of that seemed sexual to me. It was clear to me that this show was just about a bunch of friends who have lost their mate.
I watched Stale Cake on Wednesday. The quotes that are mentioned in this review are from the beginning, and I feel like the play described in the review is from an imagined one that was projected onto the podium starting five minutes in. As someone who paid attention; as a young person who has lost a friend due to suicide, the charge that carries throughout this play describes exactly how a death can both ceremonially connecting but also sever the dynamics that were held by the person no longer there. There was just one kiss in this play, if that’s steamy, then I can’t take this review seriously.
I watched the performance last night and I honestly believe this reviewer either saw a different play or maybe just didn’t take the time to understand the performance.
What I saw was a strong performance by a great cast. “steamy”? To be honest I’ve
Seen more steam in a cold kettle! Yes there was one kiss, which was relevant, portrayed perfectly and in context.
For me, the story portrayed, in a humorous way, the foibles and tribulations of a group of young people sharing a house, grappling with relationships, sexuality and grief. Personally I’d be delighted to see a part two.
I watched Stale Cake on the Wednesday night. When reading this review after watching the show, I struggle to see how the story can be interpreted as steamy without first acknowledging the deeper emotions of the characters. Grief is felt in many ways, and I think the writer captures that incredibly well, and sometimes it can convince characters to make choices that they may later regret. Whilst I can understand that the sexual tension is palpable at times, it by no means overpowers the complex feeling of grief. For just one kiss, I think I’d focus more on the play’s fantastic encapsulation of “everyone grieves differently” and what the characters are really thinking.