A Slice of Banana Cake
 Waikato Times May 2005
Reviewed by Lucy Reed

The audience, most of whom were women, was there to see Helen Brown be Helen Brown. And a couch, a piano and a book full of notes were all the props she needed.

Beginning with her best friend, Brown weaved the most important people and experiences from her life to become the woman she now is, likening it to adding ingredients to an individual cake recipe. A Slice of Banana Cake is her philosophy of life, a sort of recipe to being.

Brown is a wonderful storyteller and part of this is her ability to be herself on stage. Well dressed but barefoot, Brown has a sense of sophistication and finesse.

She took the audience on a journey through life’s highs, lows and many in-betweens, with loads of laughs along the way.

Entirely comfortable, she spoke just above eye level with an air of wisdom and experience, breaking for impromptu humour and movement.

The mood of Brown’s anecdotes was conveyed with musical interludes played by pianist Paul Adams. These worked extremely well as a time for reflection for the audience and Brown, who also let her expression and body language portray the thoughts which words could not. Adams played with great sensitivity and humour.

Brown’s one woman show was like her newspaper columns embodied on stage. The strength of her writing, great sense of humour and timing made this unusual idea for a show a wonderful success.