Review: American Candy (Omnibus Theatre / UK Tour)

Review by Lily Melhuish 

⭐️⭐️

Presented by The Mango Ensemble, American Candy is a dark comedy set in a garishly artificial American candy store somewhere in the UK. It’s closing time, and the baby-faced staff are ready to clock out, but an unexpected customer seems sure to get in their way and cause some trouble. Ten minutes later, they’re hiding her unconscious body in the basement, away from their not-so-Jolly-Rancher boss.

What follows is a chaotic spiral of events as the pair scrambles to clear up their mess. Secrets surface, alliances shift, and the candy begins to rot from within. The play promises to tackle capitalist corruption, cultural imperialism, and the paranoia projected onto minorities, but its delivery is far less nuanced than its premise suggests.

The direction by Francesca Hsieh is dynamic, with energetic staging that mirrors the frantic action. The production toggles between two distinct spaces: the gaudy front room of the candy shop and the intimate bedroom of Sabrina and Daniel’s home. The set design is minimal but effective, walls stacked with American sweets, a counter cluttered with branded keyrings and marmalade vapes. It’s a visual overload that reflects the artificiality of the world these characters inhabit, and it reinforces the play’s critique of consumerism and cultural saturation.

Daniel, the volatile shop owner, embodies a kind of toxic masculinity that's reminiscent of American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman; there's even a painfully on-the-nose nod to the Hip to be Square dance. George Kirby-Smith gives him a simmering intensity, though the character’s motivations remain frustratingly opaque. His wife Sabrina (Grace Longman) is underdeveloped, her emotional fragility and health issues are touched on but never meaningfully explored. She evokes the trope of the Christopher Nolan-esque wife: present only to serve the man’s arc.

Connor (Joseph Pape), a dim-witted 18-year-old who’s worked at American Candy for a couple of years, is quick to defend himself but even quicker to forget why. His colleague Zaynab (Layla Choudhury) is sharp, clearly the more capable of the two. A scene where she and Connor reminisce about their A-levels is one of the few moments that feels grounded. Their gentle teasing and shared history offer a glimpse of authenticity that’s otherwise buried beneath melodrama and strained metaphors.

The cast do their best to bring these archetypes to life, injecting flashes of humanity into otherwise wildly unlikely people. Performances are well-rounded, but the interpersonal relationships suffer from an overemphasis on the ‘how’ and not enough attention to the ‘why’. The result is a lack of momentum, tension, and ultimately, laughs.

Political statements are delivered with the subtlety of corporate compliance training. Examples of racism are presented so bluntly that they feel more like bullet points than lived experiences. The play takes too long to get going, then rushes to defend its purpose in the final five minutes. Bizarrely, Connor is the chosen vessel for this enlightenment, a self-professed idiot who is frankly too foolish to be that convincingly profound. It’s symbolic of the production’s struggle to balance satire with sincerity.

This production lures you in with flamboyant characters and quick wit, but ultimately leaves a sour taste. The manic structure and chaotic plot offer little breathing room for development or reflection, for both the characters and the audience. Despite the sugar-coated setting, the story could just as easily have taken place in a Boots Pharmacy or an H&M, which speaks to its lack of thematic specificity. In trying to say everything, it ends up saying not much at all.

American Candy plays at London’s Omnibus Theatre until 10th September. Tickets from https://www.omnibus-clapham.org/american-candy/ 

It then tours to Oxford, Bedford, Bolton, Newcastle and Birmingham until 20th September.

Photos by Harry Elletson