Food as Theater

Food and theater both rank high among my passions and I adore it when they are linked. In Chicago, we're fortunate to have what I firmly believe is the greatest theater scene in North America, and naturally, some of the shows at least touch on food, to one extent or another.

Possibly the best-written food-theater play I know of is "The Art of Dining" by Tina Howe, a wonderful play about a husband and wife opening a new restaurant and their customers. It's notable because it involves cooking on stage. In the best production I've seen, the aromas wafting out into the audience added a whole new dimension to the show. I hope someone revives it here soon.

Cindy Hanson and Cheryl Norris' "Cooking With Lard," a day in a small-town Texas diner, is less even less about the food than the customers, but offers amusing running bits about a woman with a mashed-potato obsession and a vegetarian protester.

"Dinner with Friends," Donald Margulies' bittersweet 2000 Pulitzer Prize winner, follows Connecticut couples -- a pair of food writers, and a lawyer and an artist -- who have been close friends and companions for years, gathering for gourmet dinners and joint family vacations. While the focus is on what happens to the friendship when one couple splits, it's full of delicious food references.

Cathy2 wrote about "An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf" by Michael Hollinger, which is all about eating -- or not eating; she and G Wiv commented on "Cookin'," the lively Korean meld of theater, food and percussion; and many of us have seen that clever political-cum-cooking show, "The Mayor's Mouth." Smaller but memorable foodie bits include the "Food Glorious Food" sequence of "Oliver!" and House Theatre's onstage assembly of beef stroganoff in "San Valentino and the Melancholy Kid."

The most remarkable food theater experience I've had was Theater Oobleck's intimate production of "Babette's Feast." Oobleck is a theatrical collective that produces its own original material, working without a director, so their shows can be a mixed bag, but when they're on, they're outstanding. In this case, they were stunning.

David Isaacson's intensely political adaptation of Isak Dinesen's story interspersed the actors among the audience at long tables, with the actors serving a complete banquet they'd conceived and cooked themselves according to Dinesen's descriptions. Not only was the meal delicious, but they also worked in the food as props: Pens were stalks of celery, or sausages; paper was represented by pieces of matzo or lettuce leaves. Long loaves of French bread served as rifles, melons as cannonballs. Meanwhile, riveting dialog made the play far more than a paean to fine dining.

Alas, Oobleck shows are not only original, but ephemeral, and I doubt we'll ever see a remount.

Currently onstage at the Theatre Building, "The Spitfire Grill" is a folk musical about a parolee trying to build a new life as a waitress in small-town Wisconsin, loosely based on the 1996 movie of the same name. This appealing Chicago premiere from the talented Provision Theater Company features engaging bluegrassy music and a rustic restaurant set. The plotline is sweet and somewhat predictable, and like "Cooking with Lard," it concentrates more on people than food, but the cast is first-rate and there's a wonderful sequence where Percy is trying to learn to cook in the grill's kitchen, with a terrific song, "Out of the Frying Pan," to go with it.

Here are a couple more:

Through June 4, Lifeline Theater's doing a kids' show called "The Brave Potatoes" in which some brave spuds try to steer clear of Chef Hackemup. The extremely talented George Howe, a weekend fixture at Davenport's, wrote the music.

"The Golden Truffle," the very first musical from the endlessly creative Redmoon Theater, is an original story about celebrities competing for the award of their lives, sweetened with a tasting of Vosges Haut Chocolat. It runs through June 18. Comments