Award winning director Kalungi Ssebandeke directs the 21st century UK revival of Mustapha Matura’s 1981 dark satire Meetings. It is running from October 14th to November 11th 2023 at Orange Tree Theatre. The play runs for 2 hours with a 15 minute interval.
Set in a post-colonial Trinidad house, the stage is a modern kitchen with everything by way of utensils, cooker, fridge, but no food. A Trinidadian college-educated professional couple Hugh ( Kevin N Golding) and Jean (Martina Laird) who have embraced this new capitalism both work.
They have plenty of money for luxuries like eating out, air conditioning, trips to America, a fur coat and their own swimming pool.
Jean is a chain smoker and works for an advertising company that promotes cigarettes which she attends many meetings to discuss how to market cigarettes to the Trinidadian people. Hugh works for a water purifying company and also attends many meetings.
They discuss their meetings in fleeting exchanges in the kitchen day after day.
After buying a mango from an elderly lady, Hugh starts to pine for the food of his childhood. He relays this to his wife, salivating as he recalls different dishes. They agree to get a cook in to satisfy his appetite.
Enter the lovely Elsa (Bethan Mary-James), the grand-daughter of a woman he met who sold him the mangos. She isn’t worldly like Jean. She only stayed in school until she learned the basic reading and writing skills.
As Elsa prepares the local dishes Hugh likes, the food awakens in him a realisation that he has lost his identity in this modern busy society. He yearns for the old traditions. Jean on the other hand has no interest in this and is happier with her takeout fried chicken and chips.
In the second act, the play which began so upbeat, takes a darker turn which makes one think if a capitalist modern society is all its cracked up to be.
