A kitchen drama sharp as a butcher's knife.Rating
Excellent
The American dream. Work hard, learn your trade and run your own business. No boss to answer to. Winner of the Papatango Prize in 2024, Park Theatre presents the debut of Hannah Doran’s The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights
T (Mithra Malek) is straight out of prison, and her cousin Billy (Ash Hunter) finds her a job in the butcher’s shop where he and JD (Marcello Cruz) are also apprenticing under butcher David (Eugene McCoy). When the owner, Paula (Jackie Clune), announces she can only keep one apprentice after their final meat-cutting test, the balance of the kitchen shifts – turning them into competitors and setting knives, and tempers, on edge.
The Meat Kings could hardly be more topical; it feels written for this moment and for this second Trump term. The desperation to keep working to have some form of health insurance to take care of loved ones. ‘The Dreamers’, those who came to America as undocumented young children but have a path, a dream, to become a citizen.
Doran’s script has a clear strength in characters; she builds them easily, giving us depth and an insight into their issues in just a short space of time. The kitchen feels like a real work place with real people. Everywhere there is a threat, JD needs ‘Dreamer’ paperwork, Billy needs a job for healthcare, Paula needs to keep the family business, the weight and history of over 100 years pressing down on her shoulders. None of these needs can turn into a surefire job or a thriving business. Each has to push forward as best they can. Although, despite this, we never quite understand why David prefers Billy, is their relationship just due to the nights after work drinking, or perhaps Billy as a source of drugs? It’s a bit of a shift, as David seemed initially just as friendly with JD.
George Turvey directs in the round – the first time I’ve seen this setup in Park 200 and it works well. The first act is a little slow but as the fuses are lit and the real conflict comes through after the interval, the tension is sharply felt.
Mona Camille’s set is simple but effective, the steel tables, knife sets and lumps of meat combined with Natalia Alvarez’s costumes, working class clothing along with aprons and gloves. Although having worked in many kitchens, the half-hearted attempts at food sanitation did rankle. Sure, there is lots of spray and lots of wiping down tables, but no changing gloves and not a hand gets washed despite constant interaction with each other and with customers.
The five cast members are excellent, each bringing a real life and lived in feel to their characters. Cruz is a particular highlight making his dreamer JD young and earnest. Clune’s Paula gets a lot more to do in the second act, showing under the gruff exterior how much she does care for the young ex-cons she hires, and how she’ll even put herself and her business at risk to help them out. A speech about immigration and how America came together is a particular highlight. Hunter finds an excellent balance in Billy, tough and strong and prepared to lie and cheat and steal, but also completely vulnerable, lost to the single thought of supporting his family. Hunter is particularly strong playing Billy’s faked outrage and incredulity at being accused of things that he has done!
The Meat Kings is a powerful, finely observed debut that cuts deep into questions of work, loyalty, and survival in modern America. Strong writing combined with a talented cast who find the marrow and muscle within their characters.
Written by Hannah Doran
Directed by George Turvey
Design by Mona Camille
Costume Supervisor: Natalia Alvarez
The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights plays at Park Theatre until Saturday 29 November.
