The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2026 - Issue 39

bitetheatre The new café manager, who usually bosses John around, freezes when she realises who Grace is. She admits she hasn’t read the book, which enrages John. It then emerges that Martha is Silvie’s daughter and that Grace left Silvie out of the book entirely. “Whatever you mentioned just became more of itself; whatever you left out died.” Mar- tha leaves in a huff but soon reenters, now wearing a long, alluring shirtdress over her jeans. Is she trying to impress Grace? John then brings out marzipan figures of Grace and oth- ers, including himself, made by “Jill, who runs the bakery,” presumably another villager immortalised in the book. Martha spitefully snaps the head off Grace’s figure, and John walks out. “People think he doesn’t exist.” Grace discusses social change with Martha and asks about Daniel, who seems to have been a former love interest. Martha also explains that Debbie, described in the book as “short and stout”, was so affected by the portrayal that she had to change her name. “Everyone calls her ‘Teapot.’ Debbie the teapot, short and stout.” Grace discovers that Martha is also an aspiring writer and offers advice on improving her work before asking once more about Dan- iel. Martha then reveals something that unsettles Grace. “There is this one thing; it’s not really interesting. My un- cle murdered my father.” Martha says that her father had taken Grace’s words in the book literally, believing her claim that her uncle had “killed my father.” Grace explains she meant it metaphori- cally that her uncle had “poured poison into his ear.” John bursts back in and hands Grace a note reading, “Someone wants to kill me.” Confused, she briefly assumes it must be from her uncle. A discussion of Clyde, another villager, reveals he turned his life around after his affair with Grace’s mother was ex- posed. John, however, decides the note must have come from Daniel, though his judgement seems clouded by jealousy over Grace’s feelings for him. After all, John sees himself as G.T.’s mentor and the driving force behind her celebrated book. He adds that Daniel built him up in the minds of tourists, only for them to discover that he didn’t live up to the legend. The conversation then turns to Daniel and his mistaken belief about Grace’s feelings for him. “To make a death threat is criminal!” For me, this is where the play begins to take a strange turn, as this statement is echoed. Supernat- ural elements begin to emerge as John starts echoing the others’ dialogue in real time. At first, I found this confus- ing, wondering whether he was quoting from the book. John remains eerily possessed, predicting Grace’s words and unsettling her visibly. He even produces a pack of cards and anticipates which ones she will pick, as if per- forming a magic trick. Martha explains that after reading the book so many times, he can now sense what is pass-