The Last Temptation of Paula Deen

This cutting, satirical, and oftentimes hilarious show depicts an internal look at Paula Deen's rise and fall as a chef celebre whose stated desire is to "feed the world," but whose true motives might be slightly less altruistic. The clever script burrows into Deen's inner thoughts, revealing her fear, loneliness, and the lack of fulfillment that drove her to success, and showcases the disturbing effect when an enterprise so steeped in the Southern Traditions that rely on a dark period in our history finds success. Ultimately, is Deen a metaphor for something that we all should confront: an inherent prejudice we might not even realize is there? The show features outstanding performances by Edward Alvarado, Korama Danquah, Tiffanee Hal... full review

This show features some very strong performances (wish there had been a program so I knew who was who) and though you feel like a pinball bouncing off all the assorted surfaces of this show, it leaves you with, I think, a chance to chew on the very conflicted & complicated layers of emotions about Race in America. What I found rewarding was the range of roles, reactions and perspectives from the African American characters. Lots to think about. The preview I saw was a little scattered, but I'm sure the show will all pull together as the Fringe runs on. (That's why their are called Previews) You should add this show to your list!... full review

Such a fun show! The writers could easily have spent the whole time bashing Paula Deen, but instead they found a nice balance between showing Deen's flaws and moments where you could feel genuine sympathy for her. The shining star is Sasha Harris as Paula Deen, she handles the quickly changing emotional moments between comedy and drama superbly. Recommend!... full review

Definitely would recommend it. Funny and charming. Great performances by the whole cast.... full review

I didn't have the highest expectation walking into this show as the plot had the potential to be a flop but I was intensely surprised. This show was poignant, eloquent, strong, well written, well acted, well lit, well costumed, and the overall experience was a joy. I felt as if I had just done an exercise class afterward because I laughed the entire time! The show is a glimpse at Paula Deen without judgement- an examination of the life choices that create a person and pop food icon-you get to decide what you think while being given just the baseline ideas with humor and grace. Amongst the laughter there are hard hitting truthful moments that challenge your views of the south and what it means to live and eat in todays culture. A beau... full review

I saw the show on the first preview and absolutely LOVED IT!!! The cast was Devilishly great! The show was wonderfully funny and touching. It's a hot yummy fried great time! You'll laugh, cry, then laugh again. Can't wait to see it again! Congrats to the cast and team! ... full review

What a great, original, innovative show! It was so much better than I ever imagined and the cast was outstanding. Great job to everyone involved!... full review

A fine performance. Funny but thought provoking, and not a slam fest at an easy target. I was intrigued by some of the challenges the actors addressed, such as playing multiple characters or the same character at different stages of their life. The writing is very well conceived, obviously researched and clever.... full review

by turns hilarious, poignant, provocative, fanciful, and even (pardon the expression) informative - TLTOPD touches all these bases, and more - razor-sharp direction of a tightly-knit ensemble in service of a script from an apparently equally tightly-knit collection of writers makes irrelevant the constrictions of the performance space and almost total lack of production values - another outstanding effort from Fell Swoop -... full review

I had so much fun when I went to see this play over the weekend. It was not only a hilarious look at the life of Paula but also some how humanized her to me. Lots of interesting points came up around gender and race. I highly recommend it either of those subjects are important to you and you likes to have yourself a good ole' belly laugh. ... full review