Hungry at the Soho Theatre

Last Updated on October 19, 2024

The Soho Theatre presents Hungry, from Paines Plough

Hungry, originally presented as part of the Roundabout 2021 season as a Paines Plough and Belgrade Theatre Production, is now showing at the Soho Theatre Upstairs. Hungry has a new cast member and is on a new stage, but Chris Bush’s writing (Pericles, A Declaration from the People) remains the same, with all its deftness, wit, and energy.

The Soho Theatre Upstairs is a small venue. The audience spills onto the stage, and at times the actors – of which there are just two – stand almost amongst us. The set, designed by Lydia Denno, is simple – two metal serving tables and some plates – but it is used to full effect. Snappy scene changes are punctuated by rearranging and banging the tables in time to the flashing lights (designed by Rajiv Pattani), flicking between the present and the past. Although it takes time to work out how to follow the story, Katie Posner’s direction (My Mother Said I Never Should, Seven Ages of Patience) provides an impetus between scenes that keeps us engaged despite feeling, sometimes, that hors d’oeuvres are being served just as we thought it was time for dessert.

The performances are excellent. Eleanor Sutton (Jane Eyre, Amadeus) is especially believable as Lori, a white supper-club-chef and food snob, devoted to menus familiar to all those with experience in gentrified London restaurants – kale, new twists on traditional dishes, heritage tomatoes (“What exactly is the heritage of the heritage tomatoes?”). She is determined to teach Bex, played by Melissa Lowe (Gypsy, A Christmas Carol) – a black waitress at her supper club – that “there is a world beyond chicken nuggets.” Love ensues, amidst the difficulties of cultural appropriation, power imbalances, and classism. The play’s discussions about these issues are poignant, exemplified by a long and passionate speech at the end of the play, delivered grippingly by Lowe. The play’s focus on the love between the characters seems secondary, and it doesn’t receive the same care. Nonetheless, Bush’s writing is absorbing and charming. An intimate, young audience was wide-eyed and laughing throughout.

Food is not just a pretext for the central discussion – Hungry is a play about food. It is peppered with references for foodies to salivate over; Samin Nosrat’s book and Netflix series “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” even gets a shout-out. It is through Bex’s culinary education that the (perhaps unconscious, but explicit) dangers of gentrification, both to individuals and communities, are exposed. What Lori views as a service to the marginalised communities whose food she is reimagining (ending their “banish[ment] to the deep-fat fryer or the late-night takeaway”), Bex views as the erasure of their identity (“So you want to teach my grandma how to fry chicken?”). To balance the playfulness of the tasty subject matter with the seriousness of the play’s message is no easy feat, and Bush manages it artfully.

At a modest one hour and ten minutes, Hungry at the Soho Theatre is still thoroughly satisfying. Bush’s writing, combined with some inventive direction, emotive performances and the intimacy of the space, makes for a deep, thoughtful and delicious show.

Hungry at the Soho Theatre runs until Saturday 30th July.

Soho Theatre
21 Dean St,
London W1D 3NE

Book tickets: https://sohotheatre.com/shows/hungry/