"Think Hilaire Belloc does Caitlin Moran... Gut-punchingly beautiful"
The Times
“An astonishing show” BritishTheatre.com ***** (Feb 2017)
“Hilarious and moving” Edinburgh Reporter *****
“Witty, razor sharp satirical song-writing” The Stage ****

Described as having the "playfulness of Victoria Wood with the satrical bite of Tim Minchin", Cautionary Tales for Daughters is a new stage show that takes the audience on a musical foray to the dark heart of growing up and the dark arts of modern parenting. Please look at the performances page to see where it's showing.

Told through live music, comedy and animation, the audience meets Cherry the Amazing YoYo Girl, an obsessive dieter caught between gluttony and vanity; Chanel The Labelled Girl, whose criminal obsession with designer clothes leads to her grisly demise; and fickle Princess Sylvia who only realises she could have had anything and anyone when it’s just too late. Arrabella Dair discovers that youth, looks and cheesecake are soon gone, but cyberspace goes on and on. Careful what you share folks! It’s Not OK is a heart-rending compilation of true and sometimes disturbing stories submitted by the public. The audience get to contribute their own words of caution or advice as part of the performance.

In August 2015, composer Tanya Holt (pictured with her daughter Dotty), and director/writer Robin Kingsland, put their early working of Cautionary Tales for Daughters on stage at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. February 2017 saw a triumphant run of the completed 90-minute version at London's Jermyn Street Theatre.

This is a hugely fun and thought-provoking evening out for fathers, brothers, daughters and mothers! "This should be mandatory viewing for everyone." Broadwayworld.com***** (Feb 2017)

"Witty, razor-sharp, satirical songwriting delivered with confidence and class. Utterly contemporary."
The Stage ****

"Beautifully sung and hilarious with an underlying blackness. It makes you laugh but it also makes you think."
Edinburgh Reporter *****

"The show is dark without ever being heavy. The songs are beautifully sung and Holt makes us laugh as well as think. She is constantly navigating the balance of comedy and truth and that is the show's success."
Broadway Baby ****

"Tanya Holt is a fierce satirist. Songs often take a dark turn and the pressures on young women today are tackled with ferocity and wisdom. There's beauty here too. This is a wholesale condemnation of an image-obsessed world that pressures young women to conform or be rejected. It's a message we've heard often enough, but not often with such wit and warmth"
Tim Bano, Fest Magazine 2015

A workshop performance was described by Helen Rumbelow in The Times as "Hilaire Belloc does Caitlin Moran" and the songs as "gut-punchingly beautiful."

Cautionary Tales for Daughters contains adult themes and is recommended for 14yrs +.