Ficha de lectura

Arnold Wesker

The Kitchen A play in two parts with an interlude

The full-lenght version, this version, was first presented by the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre on 27 June 1961.

Characters

There are thirty actor in this play because it’s a large kitchen. Most of them are cook or waiters but there are also dishwashers and Marango, the owner of the restaurant. There are different nationalities amongst the characters. There are Germans, Irishmen, Cypriots and a Italian guy. The main character is Frank. He is a young German man whose parents were killed in the war. Wesker calls him:`boisterous, aggressive, too merry and yet good-natured. After three years at the Tivoli one might say he was living on his nerves.´ (p.11) He has it’s own special nervous laugh; Hya hya hya. He is having a relation with Monique, a waitress who already has a man. All the other actors have their own importance in the story. I will highlight three of them. There is Kevin, a young Irishman. It’s his first day in this kitchen. Most of the time is he commenting the rush and the people around him. It is the worst he has ever seen. For this reason he doubts if he will stay to work there. At the end of act one he says: `KEVIN: Have you all gone barking-raving-bloody-mad´ (p. 46) The other cooks say to him that he will get used to it. In the pastry section are Paul and Raymond. They are special because in opposition to the rest are they very calm and do never panic. Paul is Jew, Raymond Italian. They work hard and have no connection with the waitresses. Raymond is emotional, Paul suave and sometimes negative.

Resume

Part 1

In the kitchen of the restaurant are cooks, waitresses and porters beginning the day by preparing to serve lunch. The characters are introduced and slowly, as lunch is approaching, everyone gets it busier. Kevin gets a roundtrip through the kitchen. We also get to know that Peter gave Gaston a black eye the night before. Peter is having a love affair with Monique. Monique is married and she still hasn’t told her husband she will leave him. She promises Peter to tell this later. At the end of part one there is a great rush in the kitchen. Waitresses are ordering and the cooks are repeating these orders.

The second part is an interlude. It is a lyrical period were a few characters are talking about their dreams, or lack of, of a better life. The third part is after the afternoon break. Everyone comes back for the evening serve. Peter and Monique talk more with each other than in the first act. We find out that she is carrying his baby and wants to abort it like she apparently also did before. He asks her again if she has talked to her husband, Monty, about divorcing him. She hasn’t and tells he is going to buy a house for her. Peter loses his temper against Violet and smashes with a chopper the gas leads to the ovens and all the fires die. After this he walks to the dininghall and we hear him sweeping the plates from table. Before Peter is taken away by an ambulance, mister Marango asks terribly calm why Peter has stopped his world. What is there more than work, money and food.

Space

The story takes place in a large kitchen in a restaurant `Tivoli´. Arnold Wesker gives instructions on how the kitchen must look and function. There are different sections visualised. There is a serving desk and sections for pastry and coffee, Poultry, Roast, Fry, Boiled Fish, Fried Fish, Grill, Eggs, Vegetables, dishwashing and for the butcher. The actors are divided over the different sections. Each person has their one space and own occupation. Wesker gives instructions about what each actor prepares. Only the kitchen is visible but there is a whole restaurant suggested. Suggested by waitresses walking in and out carrying plates and dishes and ordering food. In the end we hear plates breaking in the dininghall. In this kitchen is no food. The cooks mime that they are preparing their dishes and the waitresses carry empty plates.

Time

The play stretches one day. It starts in the early morning and end around dinnertime, when Peter smashes the gasleads. The play starts with a slowly rhythm and during the morning it increases till very vast at the end of the first act when the lunch is served. During the interlude is no one in a hurry and is it peaceful. During the second part the rhythm increases again but doesn’t get to the point it was in the first act.

Language

There are different nationalities represented in the play and therefore too different accents. Wesker says in the beginning which characters have an accent and to what decree. Sometimes one of the German characters speaks or sing German. The English used is working-class English.