Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
This fresh new musical romcom is a treat - not too sickly, but perfectly sweet. The tone is exactly what you’d expect from the title: offbeat, a little bit indie, knowing its quirks. And so’s the premise. Literally. Two twentysomething strangers cross paths in NYC. Their meet is not especially cute. Feckless Brit Dougal (Sam Tutty) has flown over for a whirlwind 36-hour trip based around his estranged dad’s wedding. Extremely tired native New Yorker Robin (Dujonna Gift) is sister of the bride, and has been dispatched to meet him at the airport. The cake is a wedding cake, which she has to pick up from Brooklyn. He tags along for the ride: they take it in an Uber. Will passion rise, like the perfect sponge? Or will it prove to have a soggy bottom? No spoilers, but the answer is unexpected and totally charming, you will walk out with a very big soppy smile on your face. Jim Barne and Kit Buchan’s musical premiered in 2023 at the much smaller Kiln Theatre in Kilburn. I thought it might have some problems scaling up to the West End – it’s a thrifty affair, with a cast of two and one ingenious set. (Soutra Gilmore’s design, as always, deserves a special mention: a series of flight cases that flip open to become a Chinatown restaurant, a fancy cocktail spot, an ice skating rink and the Plaza Hotel). But it is carried joyfully onwards and upwards by the wit and charm of its excellent cast, its upbeat music and outstanding libretto. Streaming channels are totally oversaturated wit