By Rob Shostak

Sometimes it’s just great seeing good theatre. The Catering Queen revolves around a catering underling, Melanie, who is working at an annual Christmas party. It becomes Gosford Parkesque as you learn about the characters and relationships that are developing in the kitchen… as well as their thoughts on the outside guests.
Torontoist thoroughly enjoyed this one. The writing was spot on, really capturing what goes on “downstairs.” There were some points though, where implicit ideas were repeated explicitly, thus ruining the metaphor. (Catering Queen…. think about it.) Also, a less-than-sweet finale would have been more believable.
But despite this, this is a show not to miss, as the three principles (Alison Lawrence, Sharon Heldt and the humorous Dmitry Chepovetsky) hold up the show and really… cater… to the audience…
Warning: Eat before you go. Watching a caterer work for 85 minutes is tough on the hunger.
7/8 -ists
Check out the Fr!nge website and listings for dates, times and locations.