Type – Irreverently Funny, Baking Show, Oddly Heartfelt
If you like – Cake, Garry Starr, Clowning, Ratatouille
Alfred Kouris and Harry Stacey Bake a Cake: Isn’t it amazing what baking can do? Treat yourself to this one. You’ve earned it.
Ingredients:
- x1 working oven on stage, set against the mainstage show W, which makes for a perfect pairing in the Old Fitz Theatre’s double-bill.
- x2 workbenches of baking equipment, precariously arranged for just the slightest hint of daring.
- x1 projector with visuals from every famous name in baking you can arrange, including a very famous Disney Pixar rat.
- xMany arrangements of cookbooks and pictures of baking idols, from Julia Childs to Betty Crocker.
- x2 silly goofball chefs (the titular Alfred Kouris and Harry Stacey) semi-playing themselves in full chef attire – custom made logos attached.
Preparation:
- Cue the dramatic vocal soundscape establishing the premise. Two chefs prepare to do the semi-impossible: bake a triple layer cake on stage for the audience in just one hour.
- Begin the dramatic lighting state, casting Kouris and Stacey in shadow as they dramatically walk centre stage and take their places. Ensure the audience are prepared to fully lean into the show to get the most out of it. Leave your expectations at the door.
- Start the first 20 minutes of the show in mime as robotically voiced instructions lead Kouris and Stacey in preparing and baking the first steps. Pray the earlier production’s company manager will forgive you for the mess that is made on the floor.
- On the back wall, cast a variety of clips from Julia Childs baking shows, to Ratatouille’s doe-eyed rat eyes full of hope. This will help to establish the underlying ode to what baking can do for the soul.
Recipe:
- Once the cake is cooking in the oven, it’s time to shift gears.
- Cue Frank Sinatra‘s ‘I Did It My Way’ and take the audience on a karaoke session of song to bring them into the show. Ensure that the fourth wall is well and truly destroyed.
- From here, take the audience on a journey through why people bake. For food, yes, but why do we bake cakes for? Celebrations, funerals, weddings, gifts, for the love of it, to fool people, for reality TV competition. Remember, this is more than just a silly bit of clowning.
- As the show continues, remember to focus. Opening night may house a great portion of your friends in the audience, but the commitment to the bit is most important. Corpsing outside of the planned and scripted arrangements can make this seem like you’re just putting on a show for your mates.
- Allow moments of levity. The smell of the baking cake will start wafting into the crowd, and these smaller moments of breathing space lets the audience savour their drooling senses.
- Program QR codes into the screen above and bring the audience into the performance through small games and bait-and-switch moments which add meta-comedy into the production itself.
- After we’ve delved into the underlying spaces of this triple layer friendship cake – the metaphor should be clear to the audience by now – it’s time to return to what we’re here for. CAKE!
- As the final countdown to the rising cake comes time, return to the heart-pumping baking. It’s time for the icing.
- By the show’s end, if you’ve followed all these steps correctly, you’ll have the crowd standing on their feet. Both for applause, but also to grab a slice of what we’ve built together. Art, like baking, takes time, care, and sometimes a recipe to create something delicious.
Is Alfred Kouris and Harry Stacey Bake a Cake Worth Seeing in Sydney?
Yes. Treat yourself. In the words of Kirsten Dunst, “Let them eat cake”.
Tickets and Practical Info for Alfred Kouris and Harry Stacey Bake a Cake in Sydney 🎟️
Producing Company: Irregular Programming
Creators & Performers: Alfred Kouris & Harry Stacey
Producers: Alfred Kouris, Harry Stacey, Talia Benatar
