The Society for New Cuisine
- tabithacatlin
- Mar 10
- 5 min read
Interview with writer and performer Chris Fung of Fun Guy Productions.
A bold one-man play, showing this spring at the Omnibus Theatre, THE SOCIETY FOR NEW CUISINE is a dark satire that will get the audience thinking! Chris Fung, the director of Fun Guy Productions has written and is performing in this upcoming show. He is an East Asian writer and performer, having previously starred in 'Your Lie in April' at the Harold Pinter Theatre last year and in the Original West End cast of Disney’s 'Frozen' at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. THE SOCIETY FOR NEW CUISINE is directed by Rupert Hands, longtime associate of Jamie Lloyd's, and who most recently was the Associate/Resident Director of 7x Olivier award winning production of Sunset Boulevard that has transferred from the West End to Broadway. Rupert recently gained his West End Directorial debut by directing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the London Palladium (2024).
'The Society for the New Cuisine' will play at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham 19 March - 05 April 2025 and at Norden Farm, Maidenhead from April 8-9. Chris Fung had a great conversation with me about everything to do with this fantastic new show, that first played in a previous incarnation at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023.
Here's what Chris Fung discussed with me about the upcoming show:
Q: What is 'The Society for the New Cuisine' all about?
A: It follows a man who is going through a heartbreak. He comes across this 'good Samaritan' group who help him through his difficult time, they are called 'The Society for New Cuisine', they solve all your problems... if you are gutsy enough. Our play has classical roots, but it's unique in the way that it is told; in the poetic, metaphorical language and how we present the story to the audience. We've spent 3 years on the script!
Q: How does it explore the themes of capitalism, mental health and the pressures of East and South Asian manhood?
A: The idea of capitalism being something that you consume, actively eating to represent the greed and appetite, it's a theme that is highlighted throughout the story. One of the inspirations of the piece is the writing of pillar thinker Joseph Campbell and his 'The Hero with a Thousand faces' which has inspired filmmakers and writers for years.
The western world views Buddhism as something light, but the extremities of it skew heavily to some potentially dark places. If the problem is 'attachment to worldly desires and over attachment to things leads us to anxiety and fear' the solution can be to simply everything
away - ascetism. Some monastics train themselves to subsist in caves, without food and water and light - to meditate till their earthly bodies waste away. This is a world away from the objective view that most of us have of what is ‘healthy’. How can these two differing viewpoints spring forth from the same basic principles? I have been thinking about the mental health epidemic in Japan 'Hikikomori' which has been raging for the past 3-5 decades, where young people withdraw from society.
Q: What does the play mean to you and what inspired you?
A: My own breakup inspired the writing. But it has grown from just this. Now it is also a celebration of my community and craft, and history. I was in my last relationship for 11 years and the break up made me redefine myself. This isn't unique to me; many people have been through it. I started writing this when I was in the cast of Frozen. It's a very human pressure to just carry on in life. To have a stiff upper lip during difficult times. Creating my show gave me purpose.
Q: How has the show developed since the showing at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023?
A: I'm a stronger producer! Back then I was in a vulnerable learning position; I was finding my feet. The task was bigger than my understanding and it is so expensive to be at the Fringe. It helped me know what it's like to perform to a range of audiences from the thousands of audience members who frequent the West End to houses with as few as 3 people. The honesty and intimacy of performing to small houses while nurturing a belief in your art, was a precious formative experience for me. It gave me opportunities and built relationships with creatives that believed in my work; creatives that feed into my practice today, like my current director Rupert Hands and Stage Manager Alexandra Kataigida, and my Camino Meets team, and supporters like the writer Randall David Cook, and the graphic artist David Storm and his fiancée, Museum Curator and Archivist Rachael Storm. My circle is deep and rich.
Q: What do you want the audience to take away from your piece?
A: I want people to relate and recognise elements of themselves. After seeing the show, I want people to walk away knowing that the character went too far and that there is always a better solution. People have always been cutting off parts of themselves to endure life, we cut off parts of our lives to give to a 9-5 and we get given what our time is worth, and we cut off parts to make ourselves fit into society, into our families, into our friend groups. When people suddenly break from this idea, we call it a mid-life crisis, or a mental health problem.
I really love how a central tenet of Tibetan Buddhism is to become more mindful now. Build your resolve from the ground up now! Begin with meditation!
Q: What has been the best audience reaction for you?
A: Once, I performed SFNC to a house of 3 people at the EdFringe. That was a pretty magical show. There was a feeling that we, all 5 of us (my SM Alexandra was there too), built that performance together. We listened and breathed together. I spoke to them, and they spoke to me, and we danced the dance together.
I’ll probably forget lots of things, but that is one of the things that will stick I think.
Q: What is Fun Guy Theatre Productions?
A: It's a theatre company I have built with my friends, and we are very particular about wanting to champion people like us, East Asian migrant stories, people from lower socio-economic spaces, people who are hunting for excellence in themselves. We have 5 pieces in development, and we are aggressively building! We’re all freelancers, so we may not all stick together for all the projects, but we absolutely are building some collaborative juju here!
Q: What's coming next?
A: We have an extension of The Society for New Cuisine at the Norden Farm Theatre in Maidenhead 8th - 9th April. We also have another run of a play TBA in a prominent Off-West End London theatre for October 2025, and we have 3 other plays in various states of development to be announced. Also plans for touring for other pieces! It's a lot of question marks and putting the dots together. We're going to build on the connections we have and welcome collaborations with like-minded artists. I'm so grateful for how far we have come and those who have supported us!
If you crave new theatre and want a taste of what 'The Society for New Cuisine' has to offer its audience CLICK HERE to book your tickets for the Omnibus Theatre or if you can't make that showing, then CLICK HERE for tickets for the run at Norden Farm. You won't want to miss this one.
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