CARRYING A ONE PERSON PLAY IS NEVER EASY, BUT FUNG HANDLED THAT WITH EASE

By Staff Writer ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

I found The Society for a New Cuisine to be intriguing, thought provoking, and moving. Confusing at times, and in need of a little honing, but never dull.

Writer and performer Chris Fung was absolutely captivating as a man who initially appears to be stuck in a rut which slowly unfolds revealing his suffering from immense grief and shock.

Carrying a one-person play is never easy, but Fung handled that with ease. Bouncing, sometimes literally, between quippy asides and shattering pain.

It may have been a one-man play, but the active direction of Rupert Hands made sure the stage never felt empty or wanting for more.

Something masterful about this play was the combination of great acting and innovative use of technology.

Fung’s use of microphones to distort his voice into other people’s, various lights on the stage from LEDs to a disco ball to the projector, and endless voicemails from his mother, built a full world out of the runway stage in the small Omnibus Theatre in Clapham.

The play did oscillate for me between interesting vignettes and motifs, to overkill on the swings between plot, backstory, and inner thoughts.

While I found the rhythm at times interesting, I think there were one too many loose ends which I wish were either honed or tied properly, and in the second half of the play the bouncing back and forth between past present and inner-thoughts slowed the rhythm of the play because I found it harder to anchor myself in plot.

The voicemails from his mother got tiresome at a point, as I was hoping she would become a more sympathetic character but she seemed to exist to nag in a way that would never get through, and I also wish he’d spent a bit more time on his ‘manosphere’ friend, because his insights about him were really sharp and funny, but also felt a little under developed.

Despite the play being still a little rough around the edges, I left knowing I’d seen something truly original, and am still thinking about it 24 hours later.

The Society For A New Cuisine is running at Omnibus Theatre until Saturday 5 April.

WEBSITE

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Photo Credit: @bykenny.k (Kenny Kung)