Fast Food Review

20.05.22

Have you ever wondered what your co-workers are thinking? The answer to that question was explored in the Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre’s world premiere of Fast Food. This poignant comedy was incredibly written by Morgan Rose and cleverly directed by Bridget Balodis.

From the moment you step into the theatre you automatically enter into the world of the play by being confronted with a silver fast-food kitchen. Then, when directed to the left you are welcomed into Red Stitch’s intimate performance space creating a close actor audience relationship.

As the audience sits down in the buzzing atmosphere you can not help but be captivated by Sophie Woolard’s simplistic set design. For anyone who has worked in hospitality, the long silver kitchen table looked familiar and was placed on a diagonal creating an illusion of the space looking larger than it truly is. The set is surrounded by black walls which highlight the cleverly designed white tiled floor that pixelates out onto the stage. This allows the set to be integrated with the audience’s environment creating one cohesive world. The venue and set worked together to allow the audience to feel connected with the space and have a strong actor audience relationship before the show even begins!

As the lights dimmed on the audience and brightened the stage a slow-paced melody was repeated on a loop for a few minutes. Whilst the loop was continuing each character walks into the space silently but differently to communicate how some want to be there whilst others are forcing themselves to be there. These awkward few minutes in the beginning allow the audience to connect with the characters and feel like time is going by slowly at work. Despite the absence of dialogue, it was one of the most impactful experiences of the play.

As the story progresses Rose explores a new lens of not only showing the audience what working in Fast Food looks like, but also what is going on inside each coworker’s head. Some characters are comically imagining scenarios; others are constantly holding on to the negative past; whilst others are allowing their heart and mind to wander.

Overall, the team of Fast Food is to be commended on bringing this hilarious, relatable, and incredible masterpiece to the Melbourne stage. Definitely worth seeing!

4.5 Stars

Clair, 17 (She/Her)

________________________________________________

Fast Food is a downward spiral into chaos, as we watch five hospitality workers transcend their banal working lives and enter the surreal world of their fantasies.

The set-up is painfully recognisable; workers exchange awkward small talk, navigate the restaurant world hierarchy, and suffer in excruciating silence. While these silences are traditionally a theatre faux pax, here they situate us in the world and prime us to expect an eventual break in monotony. Kevin Hofbauer’s exquisite performance of Troy – the manic, anally retentive, and terrifying shift manager – is our first glimpse of this normality dissolving.

Amongst the burger-flipping and bun-toasting reality starts to crack as characters break the fourth wall and enter their fantasies. I was particularly moved by Rosemary (Ella Caldwell), a mother who is much older than the others and reminisced on feeling insecure and disrespected as life continued into middle age. Her conversation with My Little Pony was beautifully acted and affecting.

All hell breaks loose when everyone’s fantasies collide; one character gets naked while another tells a hilarious and inaudible monologue as the stage descends into chaos. This frenetic scene was fittingly overwhelming and fun and highlighted a dark, sinister edge to the seemingly dull fast food restaurant. When combined with a bizarre video on the screen above we were brought into the fever dream that occurs when our grasp on reality breaks.

A reprieve arrives when each character decides to quit their job and join Leonard (Casey Filips) on a worry-free Malibu-Esque beach getaway. The actors’ physicality captured the slow, stoned feeling that overtakes us on family holidays where humidity makes everything seem surreal. The shift from these characters as strangers to a bizarre family unit was thoroughly entertaining. However, I felt the play lost momentum when the group tells the audience a long-winded ‘rags to riches’ allegory. While the moral of the allegory was apt, it felt unnecessary given the play’s inherent exploration of this idea.

The following scene was a Lord of the Flies-Esque argument on who would be the ‘King’ of the beach, despite the fallacy that no such hierarchy should exist. I would have appreciated more of this conversation, particularly as it ends with the decision to return to the reality of the fast-food restaurant. Some further dialogue on the futility of fantasy worlds and the need to return to working life in a capitalist society would have been a great addition. The play’s final moments compliment this idea as we witness an emotional and compelling wake-up call to the harsh realities of the restaurant business.

Ultimately, Fast Food is a darkly comic take on an industry most of us know too well, with strong performances that take on complex ideas of identity and meaning in a capitalist world.

3 Stars

Lotte, 22, (She/Her)

Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre’s season of Fast Food plays at Red Stitch (@ Home) St Kilda until 5 June. Book your tickets here.