York Theatre Royal – until Saturday 23rd May 2026
Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
4****
Badapple Theatre Company is celebrating the start of its year as associate company at York Theatre Royal by staging cookery comedy Crumbs in the Studio until Saturday. I was lucky enough to catch it on opening night.
Written and directed by Kate Bramley, the show touches on the dreaded social influencer culture and the relentless pressure to chase attention and audiences. Starring Ellen Carnazza, Crumbs is a fast-paced one-woman, multi-role comedy about a former TV baking star Petronella Parfait. She is desperately trying to reinvent herself as social media’s next baking star.
It is launch day for her new show, Dough My Gosh, and things start to unravel before it even goes live. Her assistant, Demelza Meek, has walked out, worn down by Petronella’s demands. As Petronella begins to fall apart, we meet the other figures in her orbit: her mother, Lady Payne; Gloria Gluten, a barrister who knew her at school; Penny Puttanesca, owner of the pizza chain next door, with some distinctly mafia-esque connections; and Mrs Crumble, the cook who taught her everything, and who she is accused of stealing from.
As Petronella prepares her signature loaf, Athenian Caraway Bread, her phone keeps buzzing with updates as news breaks and her followers begin to turn on her, wanting justice for Mrs Crumble. Before long, the whole event descends into chaos, props collapse, the power cuts out, she hasn’t paid the bills, and final demands start appearing everywhere, but the oven stays on.
Just when things can’t get any worse for Petronella, Penny has had enough of the negative attention her demise is creating and sends her muscle, Big Tony, round. What follows is a madcap chase, brilliantly executed, and exhilarating to watch, one of the show’s highlights.
Ellen brings impressive energy to the stage, switching between characters with the help of a hat, wig, scarf or shades. She is thoroughly entertaining, captivating to watch and quickly wins over the audience. I would love to see her perform again.
Crumbs is a fast paced, manic comedy packed with food puns inspired by James Bond, Forrest Gump, Taylor Swift and OnlyFans, to name just a few. What makes this show even more memorable though is that bread is actually baked on stage, you can smell it wafting around the studio, and lets be honest, you can’t beat the smell of freshly baked bread. The icing on the cake is that the audience get to have a taste, it was delicious. What more can you ask for?
Spoiler! If you do go and see the show the program includes a QR codes. Just scan it, submit the feedback form and you then have access to the bread recipe.