Ten Days...That Shook the Kitchen!

Prize-winning writer Ginny Davis presents Ruth Rich, a discontented stay-at-home mother-of-three. In an attempt to reassess her life, Ruth decides to record all of the gory details in a diary – what ensues is a series of amusing anecdotes about her family and home life. Until, that is, the flirtatious, BMW-driving, single Dad turns up, and Ruth's entries become rather more raunchy.

The character which Davis creates has similarities to the ‘Slummy Mummy’ of Fiona Neill’s wildly successful column in The Sunday Times. Yet Davis’ dry wit and perceptive observations are sufficient to give a tried-and-tested formula some refreshing originality. Davis is able to colourfully and compellingly evoke the various sticky situations that Ruth finds herself in, and her animated delivery ensures that the show maintains pace until the very end.

Davis introduces an entertaining cast of characters, including a bumbling workaholic husband, an obstreperous 13-year-old daughter, and an insufferable mother-in-law. The star of Davis’ one-woman show, however, is the larger-than-life character of the ubiquitous Timmy’s Mum, whose acts of domestic-goddess one-upmanship, immaculate wardrobe, and 34DDs provide Ruth with a frequent source of exasperation.

This show is probably enjoyed best by the midlife, middle-class Mum who will be able to laugh knowingly at Ruth’s trials and tribulations. Yet Davis’ talent for describing the surprisingly comic side of everyday domestic life ensures that the one-woman performance has enough substance to entertain pretty much everyone else as well.