SERVING BRULEE

www.servingbrulee.com

Written and Produced by Soné Anandpara
Directed by Chelsea B. Lockie
Meredith Yannuzzi, Producer
Emma Cavalier, Associate Producer

October 12, 14, 17, 20, 24, 2018

Part of the 2018 New York International Fringe Festival
Fringe Hub 685 Washington Street at Charles Street
Tickets and information: www.fringenyc.org

Starring
Soné Anandpara, Ivy Hong and Emma Cavalier

Serving Brûlée is a 45-minute essentially real-time staged production of the debut episode of a cooking show entitled Serving Brûlée with Lila Das (Soné Anandpara). The theater audience sits in for the television studio audience as Lila Das and her guest Michelle Stiles (Ivy Hong) attempt to create the perfect dessert.

Here, the Brûlée is a metaphor for accomplishment and perfection. Lila equates the success of the dessert with being her best self, but also seems to want to impress her audience while also bordering on denigrating Michelle for not quite achieving her “inner Brûlée”. As might be expected, things do not go flawlessly, and as Lila succumbs to a panic attack onstage, Michelle and the crew (Emma Cavalier) are left to salvage the show.

Staging options are limited in the production space, but this did not hinder the production, as most action was limited to the television kitchen set. A short piece, the action was fluid.

Serving Brûlée is a comedy, if slightly dark. The characters, especially Lila, feel very “New York” in terms of capturing that segment of self-involved, pretentious snarkiness that can creep up all too often. Michelle counters this tone with a more down to earth presence. Overall, the play is a respectable addition to the Festival.

- Kessa De Santis -