Okay, so I've lived with some pretty eccentric people. I suppose we all have, having been stuck in the rented hell that is Britain for years. A drunken pot addict, a tyrant who makes Mussolini look calm, a snake owner. But what happens when the perfect storm of two lonely women collide? Enter Kitchen Underwear. It's a heartwarming, if slightly literal, queer love story. Introducing Ash, a 1000 words a minute poet, played with gusto by Kate Stamouris. Her landlord/roommate, G, is a broken-hearted, melancholic translator (a rather stiff Maria Gojcberg). You…
evaluation
good
Like the advert Spareroom and Tinder created together around Pride, heated conversations over coffee and evenings spent with wine blur the complicated rules of sexuality, friendship and flat-sharing for two twenty-somethings.
Now, I've lived with some pretty eccentric people – as I think we all are after years trapped in the rented hell that is Britain – a sludgy pot addict, a tyrant who would make Mussolini look cool, a snake owner – but what happens when the worst happens, when two drifting lonely women collide?
input kitchen underweara heartwarming (if a little literal) queer love story. Meet Ash, a poet who can churn out 1,000 words a minute. Kate StamourisG: Her landlord/roommate is a grieving, melancholic translator (and quite stubborn) Maria GoychbergYou see, when a typical introvert and an extrovert meet, both thrive.
Their shared quirky habits (hanging artwork made entirely from trousers, tarot card readings, early morning conversations about love) come together to create a shared life that is more than just cohabitation.
Stamouris and Goycberg, who both wrote and star in the film, are compelling, nailing the queer world with a loving swing as they dress up in Lucy and Yaks (the lesbian uniform) and discuss U-Hauls (a quick transition into a relationship), poetry readings, café culture, pickles and a roster of emotional but short-lived affairs.
But in places, the production is a bit like tea brewed by someone who doesn't know better. Not wrong, but not entirely right. The blurb says they live in Edinburgh, but barely mentions the great Scottish capital. They both have American accents, which would be the case in any big gay city in the English-speaking world. The spartan nature of the sets and props never gets in the way of the show's success, but rather helps to focus on the awkwardness of the couple's initial courtship. But an over-reliance on “dear diary” settings (each with alternating pink and blue lights) keeps the story tied up in a static, repetitive, past-tense, distancing narrative structure of “and then I did this.” It's as if the story is always looking back, somehow ending before it even begins.
Becca Donley's direction creates a soft intimacy between the cast that reaches, at one point, a chinchilla-like cuteness.The story is not revolutionary or culturally specific, but since when has that hindered the success of the romantic comedy industry?
Queer love stories that don't have happy or tragic endings are rare, and as a realistic and truthful look at people in same-sex relationships, kitchen underwear It's a fun edition.
Written by: Maria Gojcberg & Kate Stamouris
Director: Becca Donley
Production: Hey Thanks! Theatre Collective
“Kitchen Underwear” runs at Bread and Roses Theatre until June 8. More information and bookings can be found here.
