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Sierra Sevilla talks about her show For The Love of Spam
Spam: probably the least glamorous foodstuff on the British menu – indeed, made infamous in a hilarious Monty Python sketch. But this year comedy performer Sierra Sevilla invites us to enjoy an hour dedicated to better understanding this porky product and its surprising connection with colonialism. Intrigued? I know I am. We sat down to have a chat with Sierra and find out more.
Hi Sierra. Thanks so much for finding the time to chat with us! So let’s talk Spam. To me it’s the depths of Western cheap food, but elsewhere in the world it’s considered a delicacy. What’s your connection with it?
It’s somewhere in the middle for me! I grew up eating Spam and never really thought twice about it until I moved into Western spaces (like Boston and then London) where I realised a lot of people hated it. But honestly, my original connection with it is linked with natural disasters. As a kid, my mom always brought out Spam whenever we had a typhoon hit our island (Guam). So I just associated it as something we had in a storm and I ended up praying for storms to hit, just so I could have Spam. It’s hilariously messed up when you think about ten year old me just waltzing into church and praying for a typhoon so I could eat Spam.
The production talks about the colonial history of Spam. What can you tell us about that?
Not to give too much away, but Spam is very much connected to WWII and the US military. A friend of mine once told me that it’s very loaded with the imagery of war, just from a quick Google search. But yeah, Spam was created to feed people and soldiers en masse – it was cheap, already cooked in the can, and had an extremely long shelf life. And for a lot of places that experienced US military presence during or after WWII, it’s become a part of our diet. I would argue it’s become a part of our culture, at least within the Pacific and Mariana islands. But the argument is that just like how Spam has occupied traditional diets, so too does the US occupy land and space as a form of modern-day colonialism in the Pacific and the Philippines and other places in Asia.
It’s a one woman show that you have written and perform yourself. What can we expect to see?
You can expect to see me make a complete fool of myself! But in the best way possible. Because it’s arguably a ridiculous topic (I mean who talks about a can of meat for 60 minutes straight?!) it’s going to be very self-aware and funny. I use a lot of different theatre forms to bring audiences in on the joke and take them alongside me as I tell my tale of Spam. And by the end, I’m asking the audience larger questions – about food, culture, occupation, and ultimately what you’d do with only 14 minutes left to live. There are puppets, a Drag King appearance, singing, dancing, and a coconut bra.
Will there be any actual Spam consumption during the performance?
Oh hell yes! I can’t talk about Spam for almost an hour and not have any. That’d be too cruel – to me and the audience! And if you’re lucky, you might even get to try some Spam with me.
How do you hope your audiences will respond to your treatment of this demonised product?
I just want someone to walk down the aisle at a Tesco or Sainsbury’s, see a can of Spam and think – ‘Huh, remember that Guam girl who was obsessed with Spam and kept banging on about colonialism? Wonder what she’s on about? Maybe I’ll have a crack at it.’
And if you ever do try Spam, hit me up for some recipes. Oh, and do me a favour: don’t slap it cold on some bread or over baked beans. Cook it up the Asian way – I promise you won’t be disappointed.
You’re performing at two venues in London this spring, at Applecart Arts then the Camden People’s Theatre. Where to after that with For the Love of Spam?
Well, I’m performing it in Hawaii for a few nights in May (so excited to be at the same place as the yearly Spam festival ‘Spam Jam’)! And then it’s off to the Edinburgh Fringe! After that, who knows?! A UK tour? An Asia tour? A US tour? Total world spamination!
Thanks very much to Sierra for taking the time to tell us about her fascinating show. For the Love of Spam runs at Applecart Arts from 18-21 April. Booking details can be found here.
ET will be visiting the show during its second run at Camden People’s Theatre from 16-18 May. Booking details can be found here. Watch this space for our review!
