Review: SLOW FOOD at Pittsburgh Public Theater is Sartre Meets Seinfeld in a Greek Restaurant

Theatre is back! Hopefully. I feel like I say this at the start of every review I write, but things do feel precarious still: will the Delta Variant rise up and end the return of live entertainment, or have masks and vaccines returned us to a state of near-normalcy? Most theatres are on the verge of returning to full-time in-person entertainment, which is cool. Very cool, in fact. But before all that can truly kick off in the next few weeks, Marya Sea Kaminski and Pittsburgh Public Theater have prepared a "filmed play," or really more of a tiny independent movie.

In Wendy MacLeod's pleasantly low-key, if slight, Slow Food, a couple's anniversary dinner at a Greek restaurant turns slowly (very slowly) into a disaster when an overly personable waiter (Jason Shavers) inserts himself into their ordering, their conversations and eventually their life. As Peter (Daniel Krell) and Irene (Daina Michelle Griffith) struggle with their growing hunger and frustration at waiter Stephen, the restaurant's unbearably "slow food" threatens to ruin their night, their vacation and maybe even their marriage.

Ever since taking the helm at the Public, director Kaminski has made a science out of projects that are not so much experimental as unexpected. Whether it's filming a play as a mini-film in a real Pittsburgh restaurant or presenting a stripped-back semi-staged Barefoot in the Park in a pop-up beer garden, Kaminski's adjustments to the pandemic have been nothing shy of sure-footed. Wendy MacLeod's play was a good choice to film in this particular style, rife with low lighting, long fixed camera shots and a slow, quiet, at times intentionally awkward pace. This vibe of pleasant discomfort, combined with the near constant Mediterranean muzak in the background, has a very Larry David quality about it; this could be an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, almost without any rewrites required. It's not hard to picture Jason Shavers cheerfully and politely butting heads with Larry and Cheryl as the evening goes on. His pleasantly ingratiating, effusive but never quite sassy or stereotypical Stephen is a helper through and through, even one who doesn't know when his help is neither wanted nor needed.

Daina Michelle Griffith and Daniel Krell continue to prove why they are downtown Pittsburgh's favorite theatrical couple and double act. They bicker like a married couple because they are one, and Griffith's bubbly energy over a more serious interior pairs well with Krell's gradually-loosening bluster. I've had the pleasure of working closely with all three cast members over the years, and I have to say, these are some of the nicest, funniest and most talented people you could ask for on OR off the stage. Any awkwardness or unpleasantry you sense is purely and completely part of the play.

I would be remiss not to mention the food element of the show. The Public filmed the show in Pittsburgh's trendiest jazz bar and eatery, Con Alma, but the restaurant in the show itself is a Greek bistro. To tie into the theme, subscribers on Broadway On Demand will get a bonus offering, in which Kaminski prepares an authentic spanakopita with a chef and a priest from Pittsburgh's Presentation of Christ Greek Orthodox Church. Foodies: the Greek Festival here in the Burgh is a MUST. (Unfortunately, the commercial for a new Greek restaurant at the end of Slow Food is an easter egg, not a tie-in sponsorship. I had to message the Public myself to verify, but alas, no new eatery for me.)

My deepest wish is still that the pandemic is over and theatres will return to normal in no time. But if I have a second wish, it's for continued accessibility and innovation. Streaming theatre isn't going away anytime soon, as the filmed remounts of Waitress, Aladdin and Anything Goes can attest when they are released early next year. And outdoor productions this past spring and summer were fun, festive and al fresco events, which I'd hate to see go away. Still, Slow Food proves that the Public is just as good as always, and will only get better from here.

To post a comment, you must register and login.