Print Room at the Coronet,London
Theatre Damfino’s sketchy exploration of how food gets on our plate would work better in the classroom than in the theatreTheatre and cooking have a real affinity. Both require excellent ingredients, a helpful stir to allow the flavours to blend, or just the honest amount of simmering,and are designed to be shared. There’s a strong element of performance in the work of many chefs, and cooking on stage is always fascinating. Over the years I’ve gorged on shows in which bread has been prepared and baked, and curries conjured and soup served up with real theatrical flair. Theatre Damfino’s note is aimed at firing up young taste buds and imaginations,offering a five-course taster menu of flatbread, beetroot puree, or spiced popcorn,cheese, and honey ice-cream alongside a performance that connects the food being eaten with its origins, and from the soil and the hive to the spice routes of Asia and a Cotswold flour mill. It’s a really lovely idea,particularly at a time when there is so much anxiety around obesity and what children eat, but in its current form it would probably work better in the classroom than in the theatre. A school setting would allow room for genuine interactivity and an opportunity for a less sketchy exploration of how food gets on our plates.
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Source: theguardian.com