Overall a mediocre comedy which attempts to explore several large themes, though fails to assess at any meaningful depth – a single viewpoint on gentrification.
To set the scene, before ‘Hungry’ the play written by Chris Bush begins, the audience within the upstairs space in Soho Theatre are sat in a darkened room, the seating is in the round, centre stage lies only 2 metal dinning trolleys on wheels; that house a few covered plates. Setting the tone (Lydia Denno – Set and Costume Designer) an 80’s disco music sound track is played, showcasing the likes of Diana Ross and Whitney Houston, members of the audience sing along and we are made to feel ready for a party as we await the start of the show! Funnily enough, as the play makes an abrupt start – we are snapped out of this, as we instantly become aware that the verbal exchange occurring between Bex (played by Melissa Lowe) and Lori (played by Eleanor Sutton) is anything but happy go lucky and in fact rather passive aggressive. Under the bright yellow lighting (Rajiv Pattani – Lighting Designer) the characters are portrayed as polar opposites, as though in direct combat with each other, changes in time are signposted by the characters smashing their opposing trolleys into each other!
Despite this, what keeps us engaged at the beginning is the fast-paced dialogue, the short witty sentences, tongue in cheek sense of humour that dances around racial and social class slurs, all expressed in Northern accents and executed extremely well by actors Melissa Lowe (Bex) and Eleanor Sutton (Lori). This makes the first act of the play a joy to watch, as the majority of the audience laughed along at the uncomfortable dynamics and red flags portrayed within this lesbian relationship. Unfortunately, this came to a halt when an extremely awkwardly choreographed (Kloe Dean – Movement Director) sex scene was danced out underneath flashing lights and a bass-heavy instrumental track. It was supposed to have been a sensual love making scene but it fell short uncomfortably. From this point of the show onwards, we were taken on the journey of this relationship, the writer (Chris Bush) briefly referencing the power dynamics within sexual relationships at work, and even the abuse of power within the workplace, but we find, as soon as the hint had been made, the audience is thrown straight into the next topic, with no resolve for the topics highlighted.
‘Hungry’, is advertised as being a “blisteringly funny play about what we eat and who we love, exploring class, queerness, cultural appropriation and the cost of gentrification”, it is fair to say the topics of food and class were investigated at length. Sadly, the other themes were only touched upon, thus lacking the depth needed to explore, debate or come to any sort of conclusion. However, as an audience we were certainly taken on a culinary experience by the chef Lori. I thoroughly enjoyed envisioning the journey of food from the perspective of Lori, the language used to create vivid pictures of a range of food from oysters to chicken nuggets and both the physical and emotional impact food had imparted on the character was remarkable. I laughed uncontrollably as I listened to Lori’s story, explaining her “spiritual experience with oysters aged 14”. Though at times this character was almost a middle-class yoga-mum caricature, Eleanor Sutton was able to bring the realism and embody Lori as a relatable perfectionist and functioning alcoholic with flaws, as we see her begin to unravel when her judgements about and in fact her own prejudices are reflected back to her.
The class argument was dealt with at length by the play, with both sides being debated in equal measures, the issue being that it wasn’t a unique discussion that would maintain an interest. As ‘class’ was the only constant subject matter throughout the play, it quickly became repetitive, I would have loved the writer to have selected fewer themes to focus on and explore them fully. ‘Hungry’, wrestles with big concepts such as how do we as a culture define “success”, “lack” and even what we perceive as “good enough”. As an audience member I was intrigued to know more about Bex’s relationship with food; specifically relating to her eating disorder, which was merely indirectly remarked upon.
The director (Katie Posner) perhaps misunderstood the material, when it came to the character of Bex who was depicted as a two-dimensional racial stereotype, flickering between appearing aloofly immature and angry. This character presented as surface level, lacking depth as a person, I am uncertain if this was down to the writer or the director, though luckily actress (Melissa Lowe) still gave us some memorable performance points. As a black female audience member at times I was offended, confused and left wondering who this show was written for, I did not recognise the character as an accurate representation of any woman. I was further exasperated by having to sit through ten minutes of Bex jumping on crisp packets placed across the stage, to portray her rage and frustration. This is the first time I had witnessed a grown woman having a 2 year old’s temper tantrum, it was unrealistically uninspiring and tiresome as it lasted for such a long time.
The structure of the play was erratic, at times I was confused as to where the characters were in time, due to the constant reshuffling of present, past, future, there was no benefit of this play not being told in chronological order. And due to the staging and set design being limited, there was no clear signposting either, so as a viewer I was focused to concentrate to figure this out. Not what, anyone would what from a show advertised as a comedy.
‘Hungry’ ends with chef Lori (Eleanor Sutton) cooking an Asian dish on-top of a hot stove on-stage, which was one of the more successful directorial choices, really driving home the points made throughout regarding cultural appropriation. Activating all of the senses, with the smell of spices burning and the crackling of the oil; added to the atmosphere of the play and the love of food shared by the chef whilst also leaving the audience feeling rather hungry!