Long before celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay were venting their anger on our TV screens, English playwright Arnold Wesker had captured the tension of working in a restaurant in his play The Kitchen. First performed in 1959, The Kitchen has recently been rewritten by Wesker and it is this sharper, more contemporary version that's being performed by Plymouth Theatre Royal's Young Company. Set in the basement kitchen of a large restaurant, 30 chefs, waitresses and kitchen porters, slowly begin the day preparing to serve lunch.
 | | Playwright Arnold Wesker |
Within the stifling hell of The Kitchen, Peter, an energetic young German chef, has a frustrated love affair with a married English waitress called Monique. Buoyed by the bustle of the waitresses and the frenzy of the cooks, the confusion of the languages, and the inferno of the clattering dishes, their relationship leads to an unexpected climax. Arnold Wesker is considered one of the key figures in 20th century drama and his plays have been translated into 17 languages and performed all over the world. The Kitchen is his most popular play. Essentially it's a drama about the human condition and is as relevant today as when it was first written. The banter, the complex relationships, the flirting and the fighting are microcosms of those we experience throughout our lives. The Young Company is one of the largest youth theatre companies in the country and has a reputation for producing striking and inspiring work.
 | | Gordon Ramsay is known for venting his anger |
Under the direction of Plymouth Theatre Royal's youth director Oliver Jones, this latest production at the Drum Theatre promises to have a youthful edge. "This play is extremely challenging for young actors to perform, but it's precisely their youth that gives this production an extra edge," said Oliver. "It is the present and the future of their lives combined in a dramatic context. "It is also a very interesting play to re-visit as the changing face of Europe, and of different nationalities within the British workforce, are reflected by the many different nationalities of the staff within Wesker's kitchen. "It's a high-tempo, energetic and frantic play, technically complicated and difficult to accomplish but we will be, as ever, giving it our best shot." The Kitchen
Drum Theatre, Plymouth
Tuesday 10 April – Saturday 14 April 2007, 7.45pm
Tickets: All seats £7 (discounts and concessions apply)
Box Office: 01752 267222 | 
