Joy And Pang Productions Create The New Couture Theater For Art Lovers And Foodies

Tonight's supper is love. What course will you choose?

Love Story: A Meal in Five Courses is an intimate online dinner experience for D.C. residents seeking to consume a delectable meal, support local businesses, and connect with others in an intimate group setting, all from the comfort and safety of their own home. Foodies, theater-goers and pop- up lovers will enjoy this novel experience by Joy and Pang Productions, a new interactive theater company created by Devising Artists Rachel Hynes (Washington, D.C.) and Anastasia Wilson (Atlanta, GA).

"With the closing of cities due to the pandemic, we saw and heard stories of isolation, loneliness and longing for communal experiences," says Co-Artistic Lead Anastasia Wilson, "as theater-makers, we saw an opportunity to connect people, even through the quarantine."

Notable in its accessibility, Love Story uses the universal themes of food and love to create space for self-contemplation and joy. Live and interactive, the two head chefs of Il Tuo Tavolo (Your Table) greet audience members over Zoom. Through gentle conversation, the chefs weave a love story, based on the audience members' experiences and choices. The answers from this choose-your-own adventure end up on the audience members' plates, in multi-sensory courses of taste, touch, sight, sound and smell.

"Love Story is not only going to be a heartwarming and delicious experience, it also brings together the two industries most affected by pandemic life: food services and the performing arts," says Co-Artistic Lead Rachel Hynes, "we're accepting, adapting and evolving with the times by uniting dinner and the arts and creating a couture theater experience."

Our current community partners or featured, independent, up-and-coming chefs will be announced in the weeks to come. The Love Story team is prioritizing forging relationships with Black-owned businesses, local establishments disproportionately experiencing the effects of pandemic closures, and businesses led by historically marginalized communities.

Following a sold-out four-week run in May 2020, audiences have described Love Story as "inviting," "affirming," "intimate," "exclusive," and "the best meal I've had all quarantine."

Whether you love food or love love, you are going to love this show. We will see you there. It's a date!

Learn more at http://joyandpang.com/.

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