Cast announced for Mumburger
Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ
Tuesday 27 th June – Saturday 22nd July 2017
Andrew Frame (Twelve Angry Men, UK Tour and Garrick Theatre, West End; Responsible Other, Hampstead Theatre; This House, National Theatre) and Rosie Wyatt (The Cardinal, Southwark Playhouse; Spine, Soho Theatre, winner Stage Award for Acting Excellence; One Man Two Guvnors, National Theatre) will be bringing alive Sarah Kosar’s incredible play, exploring bereavement and familial disconnection through the relationship of a father and daughter following the death of the mother. Mumburger, directed by Tommo Fowler, is a universal story with a surreal twist, inviting the audience to evaluate their individual positions on societal taboos and personal obligation
In her surreal new play about grief, parenting and alternative meat, Sarah Kosar (Spaghetti Ocean, Royal Court Live Lunch) asks how far we can be pushed by love and obligation.
Tiffany’s mum got hit by a Birdseye truck on the M25. There’s family to call and a coffin to order, but first she has to talk to her dad – and for some reason that’s the toughest thing on her to-do list. Meanwhile, an oozing paper bag on the doorstep holds a dying wish that will either bring father and daughter together, or drive them further apart.
Told through multimedia, burgers and spoken word, Mumburger explores the forms, feelings and manifestations of grief, and begs the question: how far would you go to hold onto the one you love most?
Tommo Fowler comments, As a theatrical experience, I’ve never come across anything like this play. There’s a lot I see and read that doesn’t feel like it has to be performed in a theatre, whereas there’s no other medium that can support something like Mumburger. You can smell the meat cooking, and there’s no escape from that – the audience is in exactly the same position as the characters, and the physiological response is immediate: am I repulsed, or am I hungry? And there’s nothing you can do to stop your body having that instinct. There’s so much theatre that makes you do loads of Thinking because it’s really Clever, so it’s a joy to be working on a play that just goes straight to the gut. There’s a really big challenge to theatre at the moment, which is basically: “Why should I bother doing this when I could just watch Netflix in my pants?” Sarah and I are trying to make something that demands to be experienced – something accessible and unique and, above all, entertaining.
[Sarah Kosar’s] writing is outstanding, touching on a subject that makes most people uneasy (Live Theatre UK).