The sweet spot for Edinburgh fringe comedy is finding a subject the whole audience can tuck into. Gigglemug Theatre open A Jaffa Cake Musical (★★★☆☆) with tongue firmly in cheek. One question rests on humankind’s shoulders, we are told. Not the meaning of life (exit bewildered caveman from the stage) but rather, as one characteristically jolly song asks: “Is it a cake – or is it a biscuit?”
This courtroom musical presents arguments from the 1991 dispute between McVitie’s and HMRC, which sought to determine whether the full VAT charged on chocolate biscuits should also be levied on Jaffa Cakes, hitherto zero-rated as cakes. There are zesty numbers about how the treats are packaged, marketed, prepared and eaten (do you dunk them? do you use a fork?) – all contributing to the judge’s ruling.
