Who would have thought, in 2026, that comedy would still be called upon to spoof the sexism of the Christian church? So it is with Kate Owens’ Cooking With Kathryn, in which a woman from America’s Bible belt struggles to keep up appearances as she hosts, for the first time, her late mom’s community cooking show. Owens was nominated for the best newcomer award at Edinburgh fringe for this one, and you can see why. She’s a teasing and charismatic presence here, playing a type – woman on the edge, her panic barely concealed by too much makeup and a flashing smile – that audiences will instantly recognise.
Maybe she’s too recognisable: the show’s argument, that Christian zealotry subjugates women, is nothing if not familiar, and Owens discloses Kathryn’s particular crisis (her tyrannical mom; her lovelessness) very explicitly right from the get-go. But if the terrain feels well trodden, Owens brings it to sparkling life, as the daughter flailing to become the home-maker of her late mom’s dreams. The cookery workshops descend into slapstick disaster, via an erotic egg-beating skit and a hastily improvised tinfoil bandage. Proceedings are given a psychotically needy edge when Kathryn’s supposed sweetheart is discovered sitting in the front row.
Then the show takes a gross-out turn, as our host must concoct and consume the unlovely “biblical brew” handed down by generations of Kathryns before her. She turns instead to her preferred tipple, cueing up some fine drunken acting by Owens in a performance that doesn’t stint on broad physical comedy.
Perhaps the last 10 minutes don’t give the show quite the climax it deserves, as Kathryn sings a so-so song about her deviations from the path of Christian chastity, and her mother is summoned from the grave to issue a too neat absolution. But there’s been lots to enjoy along the way: Owens’ deft clownish touch keeps every sequence pregnant with possibility, right up to the “deflowering ceremony” involving Kathryn, two plucky punters and an ominous bedsheet. I would say she has the audience in the palm of her hand here, but as her cookery efforts demonstrate, Kathryn’s hands are a precarious place to be.
Dining and Cooking