Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) is a British musical by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan. The play was first produced in 2019 in Ipswich and Northampton, starring Tori Allen-Martin and Alex Cardall. A new production opened at Kiln Theatre in 2023, starring Dujonna Gift and Sam Tutty. In April 2024, it transferred to the Criterion Theatre in the West End.

Two Strangers
(Carry a Cake Across New York)
Off-West End Promotional Poster
Music	Jim Barne
Lyrics	Kit Buchan
Book	Kit Buchan
Premiere	5 November 2019: New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
Productions	2019 Ipswich and Northampton 2023 London 2024 West End

Under its previous title The Season, the show received a Stage Debut Award, for Best Composer, Lyricist or Book Writer, and before that also the Stiles & Drewe Mentorship prize.

Production history

Ipswich & Northampton (2019)

Originally called The Season, Two Strangers was co-produced by the New Wolsey Theatre and Royal & Derngate, directed by Tim Jackson, and starred Tori Allen-Martin as Robin and Alex Cardall as Dougal. It ran in Ipswich from 5 to 16 November and Northampton from 19 to 30 November 2019.

Off-West End (2023–24)

A new production under the new title Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) opened at London's Kiln Theatre, directed by Tim Jackson and starring Dujonna Gift as Robin and Sam Tutty as Dougal with designs by Soutra Gilmour. The production began previews from 9 November with a press night on 16 November and was originally due to run until 23 December before being extended to 20 January 2024.

West End (2024)

The Kiln production transferred to the West End for a strictly limited run with Gift and Tutty reprising their roles. The show began previews on 4 April at the Criterion Theatre, with a press night performed on 23 April. It was originally scheduled to run until 14 July 2024 but due to popular demand, the show extended its run until 31 August 2024.

Cast and characters

Character	Ipswich	Northampton	Off-West End	West End
	2019		2023	2024
Robin	Tori Allen-Martin		Dujonna Gift
Dougal	Alex Cardall		Sam Tutty

Cast recording

In February 2024 an eight-track EP was released on all major streaming platforms.

In July 2024, an album was released on all major streaming platforms, which comprised 15 songs with a runtime of 47 Minutes.

Musical Numbers

Act 1

• "New York" - Dougal
• "What'll It Be" - Robin
• "Dad" - Dougal
• "On the App" - Robin & Dougal
• "This Is The place" - Robin & Dougal
• "Under The Mistletoe" - Robin & Dougal
• "Be Happy" - Robin
• "American Express" - Robin & Dougal

Act 2

• "The Hangover Duet" - Robin & Dougal
• "He Doesn't Exist" - Robin
• "What Did You Say?" - Robin & Dougal
• "About To Go In" - Dougal
• "This Year" - Robin
• "Dearly Beloved" - Robin & Dougal
• "If I Believed" - Robin & Dougal

Reception

In November 2023, David Jays, writing for The Guardian, gave the play four out of five stars, noting that it "matches its wide-eyed hero and sardonic heroine with just the right mix of sugar and sour".

In The Observer, the writer Kate Kellaway gave the show five stars, calling it "fresh, funny, ironic, inventive and moving" and describing the production as "flawless."

Also in November 2023, The Telegraph's Marianka Swain wrote, "Jim Barne and Kit Buchan's heartfelt musical two-hander has all the ingredients to be an irresistibly sweet treat for the festive season".

Clive Davis of The Times wrote: "What a tantalising near miss. This journey is bumpier, played out on the designer Soutra Gilmour’s revolving pile of suitcases. Like the Hollywood references, the set is something of a distraction, and the four-piece band perched above the actors lack firepower. The songs are fine; the script doesn’t quite do them justice."

In January 2024, the musical was featured on The National Lotteries Big Night of Musicals, broadcast on BBC One.

In April 2024, Alex Wood writing for WhatsOnStage gave the musical five stars and declared that it was "as good a night out in the West End as you can get".

Stefan Kyriazis, of the Daily Express, wrote "I fell in love with Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) and you will too. It's a heartfelt and hilarious joy".

Although Time Out magazine provided a detailed synopsis of the show, giving it four stars out of five, it did state that "the first half is about 15 minutes too long, and [it thought] Dougal could be a grating character in the hands of a less winning actor than Tutty."