How To Make A Mess is a funny, heartwarming and mouth salivating two-character chamber musical by Emily Rose Simons. The two characters are Anna, a work-obsessed London-dweller (played by Natasha Karp), and Nigella Lawson, a musical reimagining of the British icon (played by Tanya Truman). The musical begins when Anna inherits Lawson’s seminal cookbook, How to Eat, from her estranged mother and, along with the book, the spirit of Nigella Lawson who strongly nudges Anna into the joy of living, learning and, most importantly, eating! Expect laughter, tears and roast chickens galore through song, food and very imperfect cooking demonstrations.
Cast Size: 2
Development History:
2022
With seed funding from Stage One, the team worked towards a first table read.
2023
With the support of Arts Council England, Stage One and JW3, the show completed it's first phase of R&D. This was six weeks of score and script focussed workshopping that culminated in a presentation at BEAM 2023 and then at The Other Palace's Musical Bites. Later in the year, the show was performed in concert as part of Manchester Jewish Museum's Synagogue Lates.
2024
Becoming Nigella was performed in concert at The Other Palace and, and with support from private funding, the next phase of rewrites are underway in preparation for a table read in November 2024, with the aim to have the show performance ready for 2025/2026
2025
Lots of rewriting and preparations put in place for...
2026
4th June-28th June, How To Make A Mess: A Totally Unauthorised Love Letter to Nigella Lawsoni debuts at Upstairs At The Gatehouse, produced by Tanya Truman Productions and Chromulume.
Tickets available now: https://upstairsatthegatehouse.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173670158/events/428765345