Review: The Grill (Jokes About Ovens) at Kings Arms is is ‘zesty and bursting with ideas’

The Grill (Jokes About Ovens) has the most brilliant concept, and it features two chefs working in a death-row kitchen.

And they receive requests for each last supper and some of the borrowed time inmates want something special, cliched and expected and others want something a bit more unique.

As the play begins, it invites you to think about what you would eat as your last meal. And that opportunity could be used within this play with slips of paper, and then as they are collected, some improvisation could lend some freestyling urgency to this well-intentioned new piece of theatre.

The Grill (Jokes About Ovens) at The Kings Arms

The play explores capitalism, and social class, and the two lead characters played by Noah Fox (Tom) and Josh Bird (Wally) have a series of conversations about what is wrong with the world.

And although they are pitched as complete opposites, they both realise that they have more similarities than differences. One is the mentor, and the other is the rookie.

Throw in a ‘domineering’ prison guard and a ‘scary’ prisoner who comes onto the stage late into the proceedings, and you should have all of the ingredients for a great black comedy.

But each character is given endless monologues, where they either break the fourth wall or just simply chat, taking you away from the action.

This slows the piece down, as it is quite inconsistently employed.

“Full of zingers”

Noah, Josh and Tom Faulkner are the writers of this piece, and there is the odd zinger of a line and some nice observations about the marketing strategies of supermarkets, with ‘meal deals’ in particular getting a well-deserved drubbing.

Staging the action within a kitchen on an incredibly hot night in Manchester does bring a much-needed sense of claustrophobia.

I really like the links between of a busy working kitchen and a prison.

Time is the essence within both settings and a ticking clock, in terms of sound design, would accentuate that.

And I longed for some slapstick, food flying across the stage, saucepans used as weapons, so that the setting ends up becoming just like the prison, and the sense of peril would then be more threatening and funnier.

As a short for 30 minutes, this could be a well-honed production, as there are some interesting story arcs, and Noah Fox has some great comic timing.

Too many cooks?

But it does feel like that there are too many cooks and ideas, which ultimately mean you end up with something over-seasoned and feeling like a mix of different cuisines.

The audience need to be relied upon to use their imagination, so when a character talks about a meal deal, we get it. But here, characters produce a sandwich and a drink, as they describe their favourite.

It is all too literal.

I can imagine that within the writing process, the ideas and observations got many laughs, as they are written down and ticked off.

But the problem is, they need fully formed characters to allow them to breathe.

But the characters in this play are defined by their myriad of experiences, and you never feel that they belong off the page, they just do not feel 100% real. Instead, you hear a collection of experiences, stories and anecdotes and these are attributed to named characters.

Sometimes, it is good to listen to conversations on buses, trains and trams to hear how dialogue is formed and how it flows.

Then it does not always feel that the lines are simply there to build up to a punchline. Some gags land well, and others have nowhere to go, as the balance of emotions is not here.

There is a story arc which features a traumatic event, but it comes out of nowhere and does not have the depth and breadth it needs to move you.

And it is because there are so many ideas jostling for your attention, they pop up like bread in a toaster every five minutes. And it starts to distract.

As a work in progress, I applaud a new theatre company Peripeteia for staging this piece, as it is always a pleasure to see new writing in a landscape which has become very safe.

Tickets for The Grill (Jokes About Ovens) is at the Kings Arms

But like a good chef, you need to know which parts to cut and which bits to use. At the moment, there is too much to digest to make it a fully successful three course meal. But it would work wonderfully as a starter if it was trimmed.

The Grill (Jokes About Ovens) is at the Kings Arms until 15^th August and tickets can be booked here