If you enjoy watching the most clichéd 6 seasons of a long American sitcom in under 2 hours, Waitress lets you do exactly that in the form of a musical, where you get to experience being the laughter track. The musical is based on the 2007 film also called Waitress, and has been widely acclaimed, first taking to the stage in 2015. This production seems to have lived up to its predecessor’s success under the direction of Diane Paulus, but there is much to discuss about the show itself.

The musical is easy to love

The plot itself is simple: our main character Jenna (Carrie Hope Fletcher), along with two other waitresses Becky (Sandra Marvin) and Dawn (Evelyn Hoskins), works at Joe’s Pie Diner. Jenna soon discovers that she has gotten pregnant, and feels more stuck than ever in her unhappy marriage. She is known to be an expert pie-maker and hears about a baking contest, winning which could solve all her problems, from Joe (Les Dennis), owner of the diner and father-figure to Jenna. Alongside, she is greeted by a new gynaecologist (Dan Partridge) — who is also married — on her first medical check-up, which proceeds to become the central romance plot. While this goes on her two friends/co-workers have their own ongoing side plots, by which I mean their love lives obviously. Something that bothered me is that the pie contest is this big event that is constantly brought up throughout the play, vitally important in deciding the fates of Jenna and her unborn child. However, the pie contest just never happens! Jenna does gain control of her own life by the end, but the entirety of the original plot feels almost redundant.

Rife with anti-abortion narratives

 

Any other issue with the show could be quickly defended by the argument that it is so clearly inspired by sitcoms. However, the fact is that most popular sitcoms still have many problematic moments and should be subject to critique even if they were made a decade or two ago. In the musical, we see exactly one person of colour in the main cast — a black character named Becky, who has the most enjoyable sass and sarcasm, but is characterised very stereotypically regardless. The same goes for Dawn, characterised with another stereotype — the “nerd” — who just needs to let her hair down and put on a little makeup to finally go on a first date, because her life would be too boring for us to know about otherwise. Finally, there is the case of Jenna, who is clearly unhappy in her marriage and barely making ends, yet decides to keep the baby. Sitcom culture is rife with anti-abortion narratives because after all, how else would the plot progress? I just found it a little disappointing that in a women-led play, the story doesn’t seem to have changed since the era from which it was adapted.

Captured the aesthetic of the musical so well

Besides that, the sets, the costumes, the retro diner aesthetic, the music and the acting are all absolutely fantastic. My favourite aspect was definitely the sets design by Scott Pask. The colours of the sky changing with the passing of the day, the diner, the set for Jenna’s baking scenes — all absolutely stunning. The set captured the aesthetic of the musical so well, it felt just right, not antiquated at all; every part of the set felt so fresh and the scene changes were so clean and coordinated. The colour scheme of pink and blue with brown accents was prominent throughout, including with the costumes, done by Suttirat Anne Larlarb. They were light-blue collared buttoned-up dresses with white aprons that kept changing styles for each waitress across the play’s duration. Each and every member of the cast was incredibly talented along with the score, expertly put together by Nadia DiGiallonardo, with pop song parodies and original numbers. The creatives behind the musical were the real stars here, mixing a little of the old and a little of the new with a whole lot of authenticity, which is more than I can say for the story.

If you don’t pay much attention to the plot, the musical is easy to love solely for the performances and visual aesthetic of it all.  

Rating: 3/5

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