There’s a scene close to the end of Waitress that confirms that sometimes, less is more.

It’s a stark moment. The heavily-pregnant Jenna (the superb Carrie Hope Fletcher) sits alone on a sofa, her dreams of taking first prize in a county pie-making competition crushed by her cold and abusive husband.

The silence is as heavy as the blow that’s been delivered to her partner’s guitar, only broken by the first keys of the haunting She Used to Be Mine.

Fletcher’s belting rendition, followed by the rapturous applause from a visibly moved and part-tearful audience, is a perfect encapsulation of this wonderful musical. The proof in the pudding that out of darkness, cometh light.

Waitress, returning to Woking Theatre on its tenth anniversary tour, isn’t a smile-a-minute production. The story focuses on Jenna, the pastry-making queen of Joe’s Pie Diner in the American South, who gets pregnant after a drunken night with her husband Earl (Mark Willshire).

As she grapples with the prospect of having an unwanted baby with “a man who can’t love” she puts all her faith and whatever money she can into winning a $20k competition and running away with the winnings.

You want her to succeed in this story of female friendship and self-empowerment, but things don’t go smoothly in a story with more layers than the puffiest pastry.

Fletcher is every bit the lead, exemplifying the role of someone trying her best against toughening odds and trying to keep smiling in a tale that’s often bittersweet.

Her fellow waitresses are terrific sidekicks, just about staying on the right line of cheesiness. Becky (Sandra Marvin) has the best jokes and is full of southern sass, while Dawn (Evelyn Hoskins) and her relationship with internet-stalker turned lover Ogie (Mark Anderson) is a joy to behold. You fear for her initially, but his Forrest Gump-esque persona and love for American history wins her over and things eventually go bang. Ahem.

Amid all this is Jenna’s affair with Dr Pomatter (Dan Partridge) with the newbie being seduced by her pie making prowess. A tad unethical, maybe, and you could argue he takes advantage of her, but it did lead itself towards a hilarious scene early in the second act, one of the welcome occasions where smiles won over sadness.

Les Dennis also provided some warmth as the diner’s owner, Joe, a slightly cantankerous but well-meaning man who has seen and heard it all before. He dispenses advice like Jenna serves pies, with his southern drawl and performance going down a treat.

Less tasteful is Willshire, who was so believably good as the crude and beer-swilling husband that you want to hate him. He gets a comeuppance of sorts, but it only feels temporary and if I do have a criticism, it’s that the ending feels a bit rushed as a happier outcome is sought.

Still, the standing applause at this sell-out show – hat’s off, too, to the set designers and live band – proves it left a good taste in the mouth.