Anyone who's ever been on a diet will see something - or a whole lot more - in Lindsey McAlister's Flesh, a two-act musical that pokes fun at 'the lumpy side of being less than perfect'. With upbeat music by composer Nick Harvey and lyrics by McAlister, the stage production mixes the pitfalls of doughnut denial and cupcake consumption with an original musical comedy.
'It's fairly autobiographical because I'm the sort of person who is either on or off a diet,' says the 47-year-old writer-director. 'I'm an angel or a devil when it comes to food, it's always been a struggle to become the perfect weight.'
With a 10-member cast, the story focuses on fitness guru Saskia Ferdinand whose life is turned upside down when she accepts an offer to participate in a BBC documentary titled Perfect 10.
As the editor of Flesh, a women's magazine dedicated to healthy eating and a fit lifestyle, the protagonist is the antithesis of what she preaches: she doesn't exercise regularly, drink eight glasses of water a day or eat in moderation. 'She realises she is the worst person in the world to go on camera because everyone will discover she talks the talk, but doesn't walk the walk,' says McAlister.
So Saskia goes on a roller-coaster ride of excess and denial, obsession and compulsion, taking on ridiculous diets and joining a group called Fat Blasters to lose weight, not her credibility.
Marion McDonald, 40, who plays self-denying Saskia, says: 'It all comes crashing down [for Saskia] after realising she isn't the epitome of what her magazine stands for. She is mocked by her colleagues and goes through a lot of angst thinking whether she should become the person her readers think she is or just grow up and accept herself.'
Comical situations include one of Saskia weighing herself while she eats a bag of crisps at a Fat Blasters meeting. Surprised at the number on the scale, she says: 'How can a bag of crisps weigh anything?'