Serving slapstick in ‘Cookin”
Some entertainments give you everything but the kitchen sink. “Cookin’ ” starts with the kitchen sink.
Seen at Cerritos Center over the weekend, “Cookin’ ” capitalizes on something interior designers have known for decades -- that people like to think they can get a glimpse behind the scenes of a fancy restaurant.
“Cookin’ ” turns that glimpse into a slapstick-saturated, rock ‘n’ roll-fueled fantasy and puts it on a stage, eliminating the expense and bother of actually feeding the customers.
It’s a Korean production, conceived by Seung Whan Song. But non-Korean-speaking audiences need not be intimidated. The few words that are spoken are primarily in English. And the evening begins with a set of amusing titles on a backdrop in English and Korean.
We learn that the Korean title of the show, “Nanta,” means “crazy beat.” We are advised against “trying this at home.” A wedding is about to take place, we are told, and a projected image of a “friend of the bride” is none other than Bill Clinton.
A burst of fog then ushers in four shadowy figures who are drumming in the “Samulnori” style, a modern Korean idiom descended from the traditional “Nong-ak” genre of rural Korean music. Or so it’s explained in a program note.
Within minutes, however, the drums rise and disappear above the stage, replaced by kitchen utensils. The music acquires rockier inflections. The drummers finally become fully visible, clad in chef-style whites.
We’re supposedly in the kitchen of a Korean restaurant. The stern manager (Seoung Soo Yoo), vainly fussing with his hair at every possible opportunity, instructs his staff that they have a little more than an hour to prepare a lavish wedding feast. Throughout the evening, a clock at the side prominently displays how much time is left.
The Head Chef (Sung Woo Choi) is assisted by Sexy Food Dude (Hyung Seock Jung) and Female Cook (Hyun Jin Lee). But then an additional helper is thrust upon them by the manager -- it’s his nephew (Young Hoon Kim). The nephew and Sexy Food Dude initially tussle over who gets to wear a cook’s hat and who gets a baseball cap. Later they compete for the attentions of Female Cook, a dispute that culminates in a kung fu-style showdown.
The plot is a pretext, however, for the percussion, the juggling and, well, the food fight.
Much of the time, “Cookin’ ” is Korea’s answer to “Stomp” -- an extravagant display of the use of everyday objects as percussion instruments. Pots, pans, cutting boards, knives, trash cans, brooms and chopsticks help keep the beat.
The rest of the time, “Cookin’ ” is virtually vaudevillian in its comic rhythms. There is a fly-in-the-soup routine. A prop duck, intended as the main course, seemingly will not die until the petite Female Cook hauls out a machine gun. Plates are juggled. Food is hurled.
The audience is invited into the action. The cast selects a man and a woman to serve as soup tasters and as a faux groom and bride. The pressure of the plot’s “deadline” is forgotten during a sequence in which the audience is split into two parts for some rhythmic clapping and stomping.
A consultant from Benihana, the Japanese restaurant chain, helped train the cast. But one of the concluding scenes is more reminiscent of Chuck E. Cheese, as the cast tosses brightly colored balls into the crowd. The kids in the audience appeared to have a great time.
The performers are slim and animated. Director Chul Ki Choi and composer Dong Jun Lee keep the pace up though 90 intermissionless minutes, and Hak Youg Kim’s lighting is reminiscent of a rock concert. “Cookin’ ” is shallow, gaudy -- and fun.