The whole world - including the kitchen, it seems - is a stage.
Jovanni Sy, artistic director of Gateway Theatre, is going to demonstrate that when he brings A Taste of Empire to the Rooftop Garden at the Richmond Cultural Centre May 31 and June 1. Sy originally performed the show about four years ago in Toronto and says he conceived it as a way of exploring the politics of food and the theatre of preparing it, by doing just that - creating a dish during the performance.
"I've always found that when you go to a sushi bar or a teppanyaki restaurant you watch the chefs preparing the food in front of you - it's wonderfully theatrical," Sy says. "There's something ritualistic about it."
And just as foods have layers of flavours, Sy says the production looks at the bigger picture of cuisine and its place in the political strata.
"Whenever we eat something, we are making choices that we don't realize we're making," he says. "There are implicit costs in anything we consume, because the politics of food are just so interrelated between nations and cultures. And food tells a story I was interested in exploring."
In broad strokes, the show is a satiric examination of how various empires are shaped and have been influenced. In this case, Sy says he is using the Filipino dish called rellenong bangus - stuffed milkfish - as a metaphor to explore that nation's development.
"You take an Asian milkfish then stuff it with various Spanish flavourings, a reflection of the history of the Philippines, which is one of Spanish colonialism, followed by American imperialism for half a century," Sy says. "So, it looks at how empires shape and cultures form."
Since the show is centred around the real-time creation of a dish, Taste of Empire has been performed outside the traditional confines of a theatre.Something Sy says he enjoys.
When I performed this in Toronto I did it at a professional, high-end demonstration kitchen where you'd have celebrity chefs teaching courses," he says.
This time around, Sy has two venues - one on Granville Island at the public market, and the other on the rooftop gardens at the Richmond Cultural Centre.
Those attending will find themselves getting immersed in the performance, and then be able to sample the end product of Sy's culinary toil.
"It really appeals to all of your senses. You're watching me make a dish and you can smell what I'm doing. You also get to taste it," he says.
"And there's a really strong sense of complicity that I'm aiming for between myself and the audience. You see me, I see you. It's not a regular theatre piece where the lights are dark. It's a very intimate show."
A Taste of Empire runs May 31 and June 1 at the Rooftop Garden at the Richmond Cultural Centre, (7700 Minoru Gate). Admission is $30 for adults only, and includes one beverage, snacks and a tasting plate.
Drinks are available for extra cost. Seating is limited to 40 audience members per show, which goes rain or shine.
To purchase tickets, call the box office at 604-247-8323 from Monday to Friday between 2 and 9 p.m. Or, buy tickets in person at the front desk of the Richmond Cultural Centre.
