Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) Review: A classic romcom

The title is self-explanatory: a musical two-hander in which a wide-eyed Brit boy and a cynical New York girl meet cute en route to a wedding.

It’s a double whammy for Dougal (Sam Tutty) as it’s his first visit to NYC and the first time he will meet his father who left his mother before he was born. His asshole dad is marrying the bitch sister of Robin (Dujonna Gift).

On Soutra Gilmour’s set of piled luggage that serves as the Manhattan skyline as well as fridges, beds and restaurant tables, they bicker and banter their way to collect and deliver the wedding cake, sifting through the complexities of their respective relationships to discover common ground.

It’s a classic romcom format - like a US version of Notting Hill - but writers Jim Barne and Kit Buchan riff around the idea of movies and reality with knowing film references from Home Alone, Moonstruck and Midnight Cowboy.

The songs are terrific - particularly Robin’s ‘What’ll It Be?’, a funny pastiche of Christmas crooners ‘Under the Mistletoe’ and the heartbreaking ballad ‘He Doesn’t Exist’.

The danger of a not-quite-parody of a dog-eared formula is that the outcome is still utterly predictable but Tutty and Gift bring a freshness and edge to it that make it seem original.