“simple and candid at first but it somehow manages to transform from an almost school-like production to an important cultural experience”
A romantic comedy can be a curious watch. Especially when said comedy is a musical with a plot revolving around two families, one of Jamaican and one of Chinese descent.
For me, “It tastes like home” has two defining flavours to it (as is suitable for a play that can’t stop talking about food). The first involves the technical aspects of the production itself. To start with, all the actors are on stage, involved in a chat so nonchalant that I can’t tell if it is a part of the play or they have in fact things to discuss while waiting for their cue to start.
The half-heartedly sang introduction makes me think two things: the actors don’t feel like being here and they really need more singing lessons. This is followed by something that looks to me like a rather clichéd love story with some unfunny jokes, a few anti-Brexit suggestions and some thoughts on the difficulties that overseas immigrants face in the UK. I slowly start realising that not only do I not find anything captivating, but that the acting is not quite good enough and the humour is beyond me (why is everyone laughing?!). I start to consider if I am not the intended audience for the material or perhaps I just don’t have a sense of humour at all, or maybe I just don’t understand some important witty point that the director (Roman Berry) wanted to convey.
My mind soon quickly returns to criticising the show again. I’m thinking that if they wanted to raise the issues of racial hatred and prejudice, they really could have done it in a more profound way. Why is the mother (Charlene Hamilton) of the main male character (Windson Liong) such a Chinese stereotype? In fact, why is the whole of one family stereotypically Chinese and the other stereotypically Jamaican? I did feel more and more uncomfortable watching this, although I found myself increasingly close to bursting into laughter with the whole audience every time the Chinese mother showed up on stage.
This is when the second “defining flavour” starts hitting me. This is also when my reaction becomes a lot more personal. The Chinese parents are about to meet their son’s black, UK born girlfriend (Melissa Parke). In an instant it turns out that they are more than unhappy to see his choice of partner and all the racist comments and questions that one can think of take place. The situation repeats and becomes more obvious when both families meet. I was thunderstruck. Are they not attacking me?! Is it not about me, a white person after all? Or are they saying that racial prejudice happens between all races, and was this musical meant to be, after all, just a sweet and simple love story? Suddenly I feel myself slightly embarrassed but I relax and become a lot more susceptible to join the general merriment and uproars of laughter.
This was quite an experience for me. I don’t know what it was at the beginning that prevented me from enjoying this playful and sincere production. Perhaps I felt a sense of guilt that often accompanies white people when confronted with the idea of racial unfairness, maybe I thought that the play lacked a purpose, maybe I was displeased for what I thought was an attack on me. Perhaps all of the above.
The play is simple and candid at first but it somehow manages to transform from an almost school-like production to an important cultural experience. Although I still think all members of the cast would benefit from singing and acting lessons, I think you should see this show. It will either provide you with a relaxed evening or it will help you find something out about yourself.
Reviewed by Aleksandra Myslek
Photography by Headshot Toby
IT TASTES LIKE HOME
was at The Bread & Roses Theatre as part of the Clapham Fringe Festival
“a cleverly composed spectacle by one versatile young actor”
Although it is difficult to comprehend how masterful one must be to create a one-man show that is meant to make a diverse audience laugh, I wish this difficult type of art was more popular. It turns out that to have a great evening, you need only one creative, naturally talented comic, with a particular ability to connect with his audience on a level that is somewhat hard to grasp.
Iain Gibbons certainly has many talents and attributes but what made his performance particularly engaging was his special aptness for observing and recreating almost real-life situations and his ability to later squeeze all the comedy out of them and deliver it to his appreciative audience. We all know the feeling of being welcomed by an usher who should be friendly and approachable, but is instead bossy and domineering, something that usually makes the less self-confident audience member uncomfortable, but here this was used as an aperitif that promised a farcical show ahead.
We also know that man in the audience who tries to behave theatre-appropriately by attempting to stay quiet, awake, and alert all at the same time. He happens to be waiting for his girlfriend but she of course never arrives, and the poor man has to entertain himself in all ways possible to pass the time. Who doesn’t recognise the universally frightening moment when an audience member (still Iain Gibbons) is invited to participate in the show: in this case by dancer Jacques-Baptiste Weckbach (also Iain Gibbons). This was all a part of a cleverly composed spectacle by one versatile young actor. The show suddenly merged into one piece when Mr. Weckbach became too fed up to continue performing and left just to be replaced by the usher, who had been dreaming to take up the stage.
In the final frenzy, all the three characters are on stage together, and this is what quite spectacularly showcased Iain’s talent. All of his creations were meticulously thought through, from the way they moved, through all the details of their voices, accents and their charisma. It never ceased to be surprising when Iain transformed from one character to another. Just when he made his audience comfortable with who he was and made them believe this was his true self, he would suddenly turn into someone else, equally convincing, leaving us pleasantly perplexed. Iain’s show was accompanied by perfectly chosen music. Masterpieces by Beethoven, Grieg, Ravel, Saint-Saens, among others, were there to drive and enhance both the dramatic and comic aspects of the show, which was an ambitious but successful manoeuvre.
A show that is meant for amusement almost doesn’t want to be scrutinised. We all laughed, we were kept on the edge of our seats, and we watched for the actor’s every move. Iain learnt from many great teachers, one of whom was the famous master clown Philippe Gaulier, who leads his own theatre school in Étampes, France. If anyone finds it a little surprising that there are schools out there that specialise in clown training, I am now convinced that they are an important addition to our educational institutions. Gaulier said that it takes a special talent to bring your inner clown out and connect with the audience. Iain Gibbons certainly has that special talent. You need him in your life.
Reviewed by Aleksandra Myslek
THE PERFORMANCE
was at The Bread & Roses Theatre as part of Clapham Fringe Festival
