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Waitress

The Playhouse, Edinburgh 

Four stars

 

Everybody wants a piece of Jenna in Jessie Horton and Sara Bareilles’ smash hit musical, which celebrates its tenth anniversary on its latest UK tour. Based on the late Adrienne Shelly’s film of the same name, writer Horton and composer Bareilles’ confection is a bittersweet affair served up in Abbey O’Brien’s all singing, all dancing restaging of Diane Paulus’ original production with all the trimmings. 

 

Jenna is the waitress of the show’s title, who may bake the best pies in the American South in Joe’s Pie Diner, but who remains stuck in a dead end marriage with abusive husband Earl. With a baby on the way, Jenna looks set to be even more trapped. Also working in the diner are Becky and Dawn, with whom Jenna forms an unbreakable trio in the face of assorted men folk. While Jenna finds Dr. Pomatter has an impeccable bedside manner, geeky Dawn does a whole lot of re-enacting with oddball Ogie, while Becky gets behind the counter with chef Cal. These three broke girls have good days and bad days, aren’t shy of turning desire into sex, and sometimes mess up, but they always, always get by enough to fight another day. 

 

An already warm-hearted story of blue-collar female resilience by Nelson by way of Shelly is given an extra layer of empathy by Bareilles’ Country tinged songbook. This is brought to life on Scott Pask’s glossy looking diner set by a cast led by a fabulous Carrie Hope Fletcher as Jenna, with Sandra Marvin as a sassy Becky and Evie Hoskins as a surprisingly liberated Dawn providing spirited back up.

 

Of the men, Dan Partridge makes for a charming Dr. Pomatter, Dan O’Brien a horny Cal, and Mark Willshire a nasty Earl. Mark Anderson is a hoot as scene stealing goofball Ogie, with Les Dennis a grumpy but avuncular Joe. There is fun to be had too with Ellie Ruiz Rodriguez’s Nurse Norma. Highlights come with Ogie’s comic wooing of Dawn, while Fletcher’s heartrending rendition of She Used to Be Mine sees her carry the show on stage alone with considerable presence and vocal prowess.

 

Given that last time Waitress visited Edinburgh it was stricken by the pandemic, to see such a full complement rise to the occasion in this way is a real treat. By the end, Jenna’s luck finally seems to have come good in a show that retains its characters’ dysfunctional grit while remaining as sweet as cherry pie.


The Herald, May 14th 2026

 

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