Dinner for One

Slapstick comedy is uncommon in the Fringe, but it’s front-and-centre of this (very) short play about an elderly Miss Sophie who insists on hosting her usual birthday dinner party despite all her chosen guests having died before her.

Her butler James must play the roles of all four of them, as well as serve her dinner – and more importantly, pour drinks for the four guests to toast at the commencement of each course.

Lauri Wylie’s script is from a hundred years ago, presented in cabaret and revues all over England, was made into a German TV programme in the 1960s that has been a traditional New Year’s Eve broadcast in that country and many others for over fifty years.

As a piece of theatre, it was a popular if tiny show at the Adelaide Fringe a few years ago, when acts were sparse due to Australia’s isolation from the rest of the Covid-ridden world. It’s back this year again, with a handful of performances just out of the city, with Ann Clarke as Miss Sophie, and the ever-comical Brendan Cooney hams it up as James, with prat-falls and increasing drunkenness notching up the physical comedy as each course is served. There is minimal dialogue, and its catchphrase will be an earworm before you leave, but the comedy is more Mr. Bean than verbal cleverness.

Its history is more fascinating than its comedy, but it's an amusing distraction if you’re in the area on a Sunday evening.

Review by Mark Wickett

Click here to read our Adelaide Fringe 2025 reviews