Tasty Theater

eer, cheese, bacon, burritos, Thanksgiving turkey and chocolate lava cake. What a meal this would make!

These—and many other—foods do come together, tonight through Sunday, in Forward Theater Company‘s Soul Food monologue festival.

After Forward put out the call for food-focused monologues, they received 130 submissions from across the globe. They whittled the entries down to a final twelve—eight of which are by Wisconsin writers—and gave each a director and actor. In all, more than forty local writers, actors, directors, designers and technicians are involved in the production.

While food is certainly a compelling topic, the monologues are about more than just tasty eats. They cover love, sex, family, dying and more, says Gwen Rice, Forward’s director of communications and the writer of Top Secret Recipes, a work included in the festival.

And the monologues vary just as much in tone.

“Some are funny (a bacon lover dating a vegan),” says Rice, “some are serious (a condemned man’s last meal), some are ridiculous and fun (a man who turns to a life of crime when he and his wife become obsessed with cheese), some are heartwarming (a man cooks his way into the hearts of his husband’s family), some are poignant (stories about working at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving here in Madison), some are mouth-watering (an epic Italian feast that goes on and on and on!).”

The twelve short performances are the theatrical equivalent of an eclectic tasting menu. Come hungry!

Soul Food runs November 9–11 at Overture Center. For more information, visit forwardtheater.com.

Photo courtesy of Forward Theater.