THE WAITRESS; not only the person who brings us our food in a restaurant but a symbol of sheer hard graft, the person with the sore feet and sore shoulders and the forced smile who earns one of the lowest salaries in the pay scale.

It’s no surprise that the current BBC short film series Skint, which highlights the vast class and economic divide, has chosen to focus on the plight of the waitress in the episode, I’d Like To Speak To The Manager, telling of a young server suffering from customer abuse.

But what of Waitress, the theatre musical set in an American diner? Does it speak to us about the plight of the working class woman, or simply offer a chance to play out a clutch of very good songs aimed at a sympathetic female audience.

Waitress, in its first conception, was a 2007 low budget film by Adrienne Shelly that became a hit and was transformed into a stage musical, with songs by the massively talented Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson.

It tells the story of Jenna, who works in a local diner, and also bakes some fabulous pies, but her home life is heinous.

Jenna’s redneck husband Earl isn’t slow to raise his hands and offer up the sort of slap which saw Will Smith apologising to the world. Earl is a regular drunk who steals Jenna’s wages and robs her of what little self-respect she has left. And when he finds out Jenna is pregnant, demands she loves him more than that baby.

We’re certainly rooting for this waitress. But then her life changes in the most unimaginable circumstance. When Jenna goes to the hospital for a check-up she meets the new doctor in town and falls for him.

Now, don’t assume this is an indicator of a sugary American pie play that is so sickly sweet it’s hard to swallow.

Waitress is nothing of the sort. Yes, there’s a bake-off element to it all, essentially this is the story of a woman trapped, by her own bad choice in marrying a moron, and by the lack of money that could allow her to find freedom.

But it’s also a story about hope, that even when you hit rock bottom, if you have the right people around you, then little miracles can happen.

Sure there are moral/ethical questions to be asked of a doctor who allows himself to become involved with a pregnant, pie-baking patient. It’s an idea that’s a little half-baked.

And we may have problems understanding why someone could produce a successful bacon and blueberry pie.

Yet, the pie in the sky dreams work perfectly as an allegory. Jenna the survivor, the battler needs an outrageous idea; a woman who can produce such fantastic pies has to have a chance of escape, doesn’t she?

This is the right show at exactly the right time. The music is also near perfect and Sara Bareilles’ She Used To Be Mine is not only the stand-out song of this musical, but is up there with the best in any show. Ever.

If you don’t feel the hairs stand on the back of your neck during the performance, you must be wearing a surgical collar.

And next time you’re in a restaurant, leave a decent tip.

Waitress, The King’s Theatre, Glasgow, April 12-16.

Edinburgh’s open air Passion Play returns this Easter with a live performance in Princes Street Gardens for the first time since 2018.

The Edinburgh Easter Play has become a popular fixture in the city, but this year’s production will resonate in a fresh way.

The cast began working with the idea of a group of refugees who arrive in a strange city and get together to tell their story.

“This was before anything happened in Ukraine, and it has turned into a very timely and poignant approach to the story,” said a spokesperson.

The play is staged every year by a talented group of volunteer actors supported by a professional director and actor playing Jesus.

This year Jesus will be played by Glasgow-based Luke Wroe, who graduated from the RCS in 2019.

The Easter Play is directed by Suzanne Lofthus, the artistic director of Cutting Edge Theatre Company.

The Easter Play production runs on Easter Saturday, April 16th and is free to all.

Now, it’s unfair to suggest that performer Allan Stewart is some sort of deity, although he has performed minor miracles with difficult audiences over the years.

But tonight is the last chance to see the comedy star’s Big Big Variety Show, at the King’s theatre Edinburgh, featuring a tribute to the wonderful Andy Gray, now making angels laugh in comedy heaven.