Dark Humor at Breakneck Speed in National Theatre’s “The Kitchen”

"The Kitchen" tells of at the Orcas Center on Oct. 6

National Theatre Live on screen at Orcas Center continues

Thursday, October 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Arnold Wesker’s extraordinary play premiered at the Royal Court in 1959 and has since been performed in over 30 countries. The Kitchen puts the workplace center stage in a blackly funny and furious examination of life lived at breakneck speed, when work threatens to define who we are.

Directed by Bijan Sheiban (an NT Associate Director),The Kitchen features an ensemble of 30 people and is set in a kitchen, using real food and with actors actually cooking and preparing food on stage — it is a tour de force spectacle and has been frequently performed all throughout Europe since its first appearance.

It’s 1950s London. In the kitchen of an enormous West End restaurant, the orders are piling up: a post-war feast of soup, fish, cutlets, omelettes and fruit flans.  Thrown together by their work, chefs, waitresses and porters from across Europe — English, Irish, German, Jewish — argue and flirt as they race to keep up. Peter, a high-spirited young cook, seems to thrive on the pressure. In between preparing dishes, he manages to strike up an affair with married waitress Monique, the whole time dreaming of a better life.

But in the all-consuming clamor of the kitchen, nothing is far from the brink of collapse. “We all said we wouldn’t last the day, but tell me – what is there a man can’t get used to?”

‘A superb revival.’ Independent

‘Fabulous, fast-moving direction… With wit and energy it keeps you gasping.’ The Times

‘Superbly inventive… The acting ensemble is outstanding.’ Daily Telegraph

Tickets are $15 and $11 for students ($2 off for Orcas Center members) and may be purchased on the website or by calling 376-2281 ext 1 or visiting the Orcas Center box office during box office hours which are Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon- 4 pm. For more information about Orcas Center 2011 season events, please visit www.orcascenter.org.