⭐ HOW TO MAKE A MESS – A NEW MUSICAL – LONDON PREMIERE ANNOUNCED ⭐
The London premiere of HOW TO MAKE A MESS – A TOTALLY UNAUTHORISED LOVE LETTER TO NIGELLA LAWSON has been announced.
Audiences are set to be whisked away by a theatrical recipe like no other with HOW TO MAKE A MESS, the new musical making its full-length debut this summer at Upstairs at the Gatehouse.
Written and composed by Emily Rose Simons and directed by Grace Taylor (In Clay), HOW TO MAKE A MESS is a charming celebration of cooking, chaos, and learning to self-nourish, through the magic of Nigella Lawson.
After the death of her estranged mother, Anna inherits something unexpected: Nigella Lawson’s seminal cookbook How to Eat. Along with the book comes an imagined version of Nigella herself, who guides Anna through grief, comfort and change, one recipe at a time. Cooking becomes a way for Anna to reconnect with herself, letting go of old rules around how to live, and learning how small, everyday choices can open up something bigger.
Starring Natasha Karp (Rags) as Anna and Tanya Truman (Confessions of a Rabbi’s Daughter) as Nigella.
Previously titled Becoming Nigella, this heartwarming musical has been developed through work-in-progress sharing’s at Oxford Playhouse (BEAM 2023), The Other Palace Studio and Manchester Jewish Museum.
Writer & composer Emily Rose Simons comments: “This show is a love letter to Nigella Lawson. I was inspired by the way her cooking embraces grief, memory, home and pleasure without apology. Nigella’s philosophy is not about restriction, but about embracing what you choose to bring into your life, and that idea has profoundly changed how I live. Through Anna’s journey, I wanted to explore how cooking can reunite us with ourselves, give us permission to want deeply, and help us build a life that feels nourishing rather than prescribed.”
HOW TO MAKE A MESS offers a joyful celebration of feeding yourself, through the exploration of recipes and the stories that they hold. The show navigates grief, the power of choosing what we let into our lives, and what we leave behind.
Produced by Tanya Truman Productions in collaboration with Chromolume.
HOW TO MAKE A MESS – A TOTALLY UNAUTHORISED LOVE LETTER TO NIGELLA LAWSON will play Upstairs at the Gatehouse, running from 4th – 28th June 2026, with tickets on sale now.
Sounds delightful! ! !
Thoughts? X x x
Tickets & more info – https://upstairsatthegatehouse.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173670158/events/428765345
