REVIEW: Some Masterchef Sh*t at The Glitch 24 - 29 June 2026
“A true secret recipe.” ★★★★ ½
If you fancy something different for dinner, I wholeheartedly recommend heading to The Glitch for Some Masterchef Sh*t. In this dark and delectable comedy from Liam High, two men meet for what appears to be nothing more than your typical date. Buttoned-up surgeon, Adam (Harry Freeman), and socially awkward waiter, Luke (George Miller), blunder their way through a series of clumsy questions to try to get to know one another over coffee. The dialogue is agile, believable, and naturally funny, delivered with a breezy ease by Freeman and Miller. Their conversation mixes the fantastically mundane, like jobs, home life, and TV's most memorable moments, with a seasoning of the philosophical, like gender, sexuality, and the politics of identity, all without pretension or self-satisfaction. Blending this together could easily result in a split sauce, but here we've got a fine Roux.
Minor spoilers ahead if you want to keep the surprise of where this is going, but over the course of this brilliantly juxtaposed and endearingly bumbling first meeting, it’s gradually revealed through hints and suggestion that something unspeakably deviant has brought them together. Not all is as it seems with this so far relatable date. In fact, it’s not a date at all, but instead: inspired by real-life cases like the "Rotenburg Cannibal", Adam is seeking a man to have round for dinner. Literally. While his fiancée is away, he wants to explore a non-sexual and deep-seated desire to cook and eat a penis. And Luke has agreed.
If the premise sounds mad, the true genius of this show is in its ability to convince you otherwise, to weave in such tenderness and relatability that the characters retain their likability and ordinariness. High doesn’t try too hard with his characters here. They stay true to the real world, with their complex desires and motivations explored delicately, and hilariously, through their evolving relationship and the very different situations that led them to this plan.
Despite the subject, there is nothing flashy (and I mean that as a compliment) or OTT here, just genuine substance. It’s a one-act two-hander played out over three richly compact scenes (and whether that reflection of form with the traditional three-course meal is intentional or not is pleasing nonetheless). This is a real writers’ play: the words here are doing the work. Though that’s not to understate the direction of James Cave, who has considered all the sightlines and keeps the talky action dynamic.
The transitions between the scenes is a touch wide and clunky, and accompanied by incongruous club music – though I must admit, while I'm not sure what that soundtrack is supposed to symbolise among such domestic scenes, it kind of adds to the deliciously seedy undertow, especially with its dark blue lighting reminiscent of a speakeasy sex club.
Overall, think strawberry and basil or chilli and chocolate. Not everyone can make these things work. In fringe theatre, using shock subjects not to shock for the sake of it, but to handle with care and universality, is rare. High shows restraint and balance. Not too hot, not too cold, just right. So for all the fun taboo, the meat of this play isn’t really a cooked penis – it’s human connection. And while it has all the basic ingredients of a clean and simple two-hander, what we’re actually served is something entirely different. A true secret recipe. Bon appetit.
Some Masterchef Sh*t by Liam High
Directed by James Cave
https://www.instagram.com/somemasterchefshit/
