Many would know Mrs Lovett as the character from Sweeney Todd. She assists in the disposal of the bodies by turning them into meat pies and selling them back to the local community. Well, spoiler alert, Mrs Lovett dies at the hands of Sweeney Todd as she is thrown into a furnace!
Well, what if I told you she survived? That the furnace was actually a cold smoker, she was cryogenically frozen, only to be resurrected centuries later! Now, in 2026, Mrs Lovett has returned to the land of the living, has escaped to Melbourne to open her brand-new meat pie shop, and we are all invited to the Mrs Lovett’s Famous Meat Pies Grand Reopening Extravaganza!
This brand-new show by Elliot Wood sees them step into the character of Mrs Lovett as she opens her brand-new pie shop. After checking her list on what it takes to host a successful event, Mrs Lovett, with the help of books from her favourite naked chef Jamie Oliver, sets out to host the best opening extravaganza the world has ever seen.
As the Melbourne audience entered, Mrs Lovett handed out raffle tickets and we took our seats. On the floor, a giant plastic tarp protects the floor, and the seats are further back than I expected, with good reason. Yes, there is a splash zone! In the performance space sits a kitchen bench with a meat slicer, some ingredients and hanging either side, what appeared to be sausages with one of them dripping.
Mrs Lovett is a determined woman that is hungry for success. Even after 200 years, she wants to make the best pies of man, I mean, known by man. She’s got a plan, she’s got a venue, she’s got a killer recipe. So, what could possibly go wrong?
From the moment I entered the venue, I knew this was going to be unlike any show I had experienced before. Wood is unhinged, camp and extremely funny as Mrs Lovett as they take the character to a whole new level. Mrs Lovett’s vocabulary is rather unique, swapping words with body parts or other food related vernacular like, nipple instead of nibble, or I digest instead of I digress. It is unexpected and funny.
Supporting Wood as Mrs Lovett is Maxi Ford as Kitchenette, who appears as a sous chef who has ‘mysteriously’ lost the ability to speak. Each time they entered the space, they moved slowly and calmly, yet somehow with not doing much at all, were extremely funny. A great contrast in character opposite the unhinged fast pace of Mrs Lovett.
There is audience participation, but only if you choose to do so. The raffle tickets handed out at the start are drawn randomly to select a participant, but if you don’t want to be involved, you just need to stay quiet, and Mrs Lovett will happily draw again. Each participant assists Mrs Lovett in the creation of a pie, including a really wet pastry mix that half ends up splattered into the audience, and a questionable red-like substance used as the filling.
The payoff at the end of this show is something I never saw coming. A final musical number was set to close the show; however, it seems that Stephen Sondheim’s Estate had other plans. Yes, it seems that the only thing stopping Mrs Lovett’s Grand Opening Extravaganza from being a success is legal intervention. Elliott Wood wasn’t going to let this ruin the party. Instead, they incorporate the cease-and-desist letter into the show with a closing number that slays. I dare say, this intervention only makes the show even better!
After experiencing this unique comedy festival show, it is clear that Elliott Wood is a master of their craft. Bringing back to life a character that nobody asked for, but we’re all glad that we got to see. Their eclectic mix of cabaret, sketch, musical and political humour is unlike anything I have seen before. A grand opening I would happily return to.
Elliott Wood’s Mrs Lovett’s Famous Meat Pies Grand Reopening Extravaganza has performances at the 2026 Melbourne International Comedy Festival at The Motley Speilhaus until Saturday the 4th of April.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/mrs-lovett-s-famous-meat-pies-grand-reopening-extravaganza
https://www.skintproducing.com/mrs-lovett
https://www.instagram.com/elliotwouldnt
Photography supplied.