At just 35 minutes, this show is tightly packed with information as the titular character (Jaimee Doyle) navigates a sweet, queer romance with a mysterious fellow student.
Doyle founded Fruitcake Productions in Australia in 2022, and as well as this monologue, they have worked to engage with other creatives to bring shows to the stage.
The company is “committed to showcasing compelling and previously untold stories on stage”, and Fruitcake touches on love, familial abuse, and naurodiversity.
It’s a show that has fringes of funny as well as drops of real delicacy. Fruitcake’s friend is heard in recorded voice-over, but we can clearly picture her in each occasion.
I appreciated the writing and the inclusion of some movie titles that navigate the borders of odd relationships (from Eternal Sunshine to Heironymus Merkin), offering a clever shorthand to the unsaid.
Fruitcake‘s one act structure inevitably leaves some plot elements hanging and questions unanswered, but it leaves you genuinely wanting more.
With an audience on three sides, no angle is neglected in an honest and perceptive performance from Doyle.
Drawn to each other by the visible scar of one and the invisible scar of the other, Fruitcake and her friend study, watch movies and ‘make nookie’ but do they ever really become close?
I’m definitely on board for another slice of Fruitcake.
3.5 stars.
You can see Fruitcake at the Hope Theatre as part of Camden Fringe with tickets here.