From the mind of theatrical marvel Steve Rodgers, Food is a story about obsession, sex and how we nourish ourselves.
‘Food, as the title suggests, is a play about food and cooking, but it’s also very much about sex, and how our relationship with both can define us, and occupy so much of our breathing time,’ Rodgers explains. ‘Food and sex are beautiful things – both necessary for our survival but potentially dangerous to our hearts… At their best – experienced with love they are the definition of communion.’
Rodgers will co-direct Food with acclaimed choreographer Kate Champion (Never Did Me Any Harm, The Age I’m In), Artistic Director of Force Majeure. This will be the first time Champion has directed a piece that has started its life as a script. Together Rogers and Champion will craft communion between the audience and the characters as they come together around the dining table.
Force Majeure strives to break down boundaries between different art forms. Their productions’ are based around a collective of multi-disciplined artists including dancers, actors, writers, filmmakers and composers. The result is challenging and relevant work, combining striking imagery with theatricality to make an immediate impact. Food will use elements and imagery from theatre and movement to complete an immersive experience in the intimate Downstairs Theatre.
Elma (Kate Box) and Nancy (Emma Jackson) are sisters. Nancy left their remote, truck stop home many years ago; Elma stayed. Nancy chose chaos, freedom and sex; Elma stayed behind and cooked. Now Nancy has returned and their lives are disrupted by the arrival of Hakan Leventoglu (Fayssal Bazzi) ‘Hassan, son of Handsome’, a restless Turkish traveller.