Chef – Traverse Theatre
Once again, The Traverse champions fresh, accessible writing; this time with Sabrina Mahfouz’s one-woman play Chef. Set in a prison kitchen, the head chef walks us through her dream menu with a story to accompany each dish. We see glimpses of the chef’s life and significant events which led up to her arrest; her troubled relationship with her father, the first kitchen she ran, illegal dealings with her seedy ex-boyfriend, living on a boat. While the chef recounts her memories, her second-in-command in the kitchen acts as a BSL interpreter. This immersive style of interpretation was refreshing to see, giving a character to the interpreter - including her rather than seeing her as a distraction. Without the interpreter this play would somehow not be as poignant ...