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New Ambassadors Theatre: Previewed 5 Sept, Opened 16 Sept 2002, Closed 30 Nov 2002

Comedy by Debbie Isitt, directed by Debbie Isitt.

The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband took the theatre world by storm when it was first seen at the Royal Court Theatre and the Edinburgh Pringe in the early nineties. It's a highly entertaining exploration of jealousy, humiliation, deceit and betrayal which gives an entirely new meaning to the old adage, "the way to a man's heart: is through his stomach."

Kenneth and Hilary have been married nearly twenty years, but as middle age encroaches, Kenneth finds himself in the arms of another woman. At first Laura seems to represent everything that is missing from Kennneth's life, but only one little problem... she can't cook. As time goes by Kenneth mourns the loss of Sunday roasts and the comforts of a settled life so when Hilary invites Kenneth and Laura over for dinner together he readily accepts - unaware of what delicacies Hilary has on the menu.

The cast stars Alison Steadman as 'Hilary' and Daisy Donovan as 'Laura'.

Alison Steadman was last at the Arts Theatre in Entertaining Mr Sloane. Alison's other recent thcatre credits include Memory of Water (Vaudeville Theatre) and The Provok'd Wife (Old Vic Theatre). Her recent film and tclevision credits include Topsy Turvy with Mike Leigh and ITV's Fat Friends which returns to television in September.

Daisy Donovan trained at LAMDA where she appeared in The Beaux Strategem, The Winter's Tales, The Duchess of Malfi and Twelfth Night. Daisy also appeared in On The Razzle at Chichester festival Theatre but is perhaps best known as the presenter of Channel 4's 11 O'Clock Show, Does Doug Know and Daisy Daisy.

Debbis Isitt founded, with Mark Kilmurry, the internationally acclaimed Snarling Beasties Theatre Company. More recently Debbie has become better known as a filmmaker creating a stir with her first feature film Nasty Neighbour. She has recently completed The Illustrated Mum based on book by Jacqueline Wilson for Granada and Channel 4.

News about the show

Extracts from the reviews:

"Timing is everything. Eleven years ago Debbie Isitt's gruesome charade was a popular hit, but feminism, both in theatre and life, has moved on since then and Isitt's 'all men are shits' line of attack now seems extravagantly dated... Fortunately Alison Steadman lends Hilary her own brand of comic bravura and Daisy Donovan also fits the bill as the trimly appetising Laura, but Michael Attwell can do little with the sweating stooge that is Ken..." The Guardian

"...All around me last night were people who seemed to be having the comic experience of their lives... But then members of first night audiences can fake their laughter as skilfully as unsatisfied wives can fake their pleasure. Most of them are friends of the cast or have a vested interest in the production's financial success. I can only report that The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband strikes me as a desperate, and faintly disgusting, dog's dinner of a play... The writing is witless, the emotions exaggerated, the comedy coarse... The story is a paper-thin tale of adultery... It's sad to see such a fine and incisive a comic actress as Steadman reduced to such desperate mugging, but trouper that she is, she somehow gives the impression that she is having fun..." The Daily Telegraph

"When I first saw it 11 years ago, I remember thoroughly enjoying The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband... at the time it seemed spiky, sinister, funny and full of witty, feminist panache. Eleven years on it looks awful. The feminist line that men are to be cooked up rather than cooked for seems dated. The directorial style, in which characters mime cigarettes instead of lighting up real ones, looks like a budget cut. The cast, mind you, is tip-top... No amount of chucked-in Elvis songs can dispel the feeling that this canned comedy has passed its used-by date." The Express

"Back in 1991, this cartoon strip of a play consolidated Debbie Isitt's reputation as a feminist Steven Berkoff. But 11 years later, like Berkoff's brand of declamatory physicality, it feels as if it's been reheated once too often... Isitt's own revival, played out on a garish set of jealous greens and harlot reds, certainly has a stylised, retro feel... Doggerel alternates with pedestrian dialogue and mediocre mime with paranoid soliloquies as the play progresses in splintered scenes. This hyperactive style works best in sketch-like pieces but here it lasts two hours (including an unnecessary interval) and soon wears thin — at this length you want more than caricatures..." The Times