Sabrina Mahfouz's CHEF to Transfer to London This June

Winner of an Edinburgh Fringe First 2014 and The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence, Sabrina Mahfouz's highly acclaimed Chef starring Jade Anouka now comes to London's Soho Theatre - Upstairs, 15th June - 4th July 2015. Press night: Wednesday, 17th June, 7pm.

Chef tells the gripping story of how one woman went from being a haute-cuisine head-chef to a convicted inmate running a prison kitchen. Mahfouz's distinct award-winning lyrical style and Anouka's mesmerising performance make this an extraordinary, must-see show.

Leading us through her world of mouth-watering dishes and heart-breaking memories, Chef questions our attitudes to food, prisoners, violence, love and hope.

Mahfouz's poetic script fizzes with energy... Anouka gives a mesmerising performance as Chef, rolling with the rich rhythmns of the language, unleashing emotion, delineating each character with a nod of the head or a slight adjustment of the body (The Independent).

Inspired by an interview Mahfouz conducted with Ollie Dabbous, Chef studies food as the ultimate art form taking stimulus from Dabbous' obsession with simplicity and making something the best it can be. As the Michelin-star chef of the moment says, language is a bit like a dish, you break it down into little parts and it suddenly becomes easier.

Chef is an explosively engaging character, leading us through her triumphs and tragedies with words as sharp as her knife: 'The night is packed away into a black bin bag, tagged with a let's not talk of that again, tomorrow will be better and maybe we should just get pizza'.

Chef is directed by Kirsty Patrick Ward and produced by Just for Laughs Theatricals. CEO Adam Blanshay comments, I am thrilled to introduce London audiences to the cornucopia of succulent flavours that comprise Sabrina Mahfouz's Chef. I'm hoping this story will challenge perceptions and attitudes towards violence and empower people to make proactive changes in their lives.

Chef by Sabrina Mahfouz will play Monday 15th June - Saturday 4th July, 7pm at Soho Theatre - Upstairs, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE. Saturday matinees, 2.30pm. No performances on Sundays. Running time: 50 minutes. Tickets are available from www.sohotheatre.com or 020 7478 0100 from £10

Soho Theatre is located on Dean Street. The nearest underground stations are Tottenham Court Road (on the Central and Northern lines), Oxford Circus Street (on the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria line) and Leicester Square (on the Northern and Piccadilly lines). The nearest rail station is Charing Cross.

For more about CHEF, visit www.facebook.com/ChefThePlay.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Sabrina Mahfouz - Sabrina writes plays, poems, TV shows and articles. She was shortlisted for the 2015 Arts Foundation Award for Performance Poetry and in 2014 her show Chef won a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival. In 2013 her play Clean was produced by Traverse Theatre and transferred to New York and she received a Sky Arts Scholarship Award for poetry, allowing her to write and produce Chef and a number of other works. She has also won an Old Vic New Voices Underbelly Edinburgh Award for her play One Hour Only; a UK Young Artists Award; a nomination for The Stage Award 2011 for her solo show Dry Ice; an Old Vic New Voices TS Eliot Award and a Westminster Prize for New Playwrights for her first short play, That Boy. Sabrina's new play, With A Little Bit of Luck will be produced by Paines Plough this summer and she is writing a TV series for Sky. Her book, The Clean Collection, is available from Bloomsbury.

Jade Anouka - Theatre includes: The Vote, Henry IV (Donmar Warehouse), Chef (Edinburgh Festival), Omeros (Sam Wanamaker), Julius Caesar (Donmar & St Ann's Warehouse, New York), Clean (Traverse & 59E59, New York), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare's Globe/UAE tour), Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (National), Hamlet (Shakespeare's Globe/European tour), Romeo and Juliet (Bolton Octagon), Wild Horses (Theatre503), Love's Labour's Lost (Shakespeare's Globe/US tour), Blood Wedding (Southwark Playhouse), Twelfth Night (York Theatre Royal), The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew, Penelopiad (RSC), Dick Whittington, Golden Boy (Greenwich), Handa's Suprise (Little Angel), UnStoned, Outright Terror Bold & Brilliant (Soho). Film includes: A Running Jump (dir. Mike Leigh), A Summer Hamlet, The Dark Channel. Television includes: Doctor Who, Shakespeare Uncovered, Secrets and Words, Law & Order UK, USS Constellation.

Kirsty Patrick Ward - Theatre as Director: Chef (Fringe First Winner/Underbelly, Edinburgh Festival 2014), Evita (MT4Youth/Belfast), Comets (Latitude/Festival no 6); People Like Us (Pleasance Theatre); Snow White (The Old Vic/ Educational Tour); Chavs (Lyric Hammersmith/Latitude); Present Tense (Live Theatre); Brave New Worlds (Soho Theatre); Life Support (York Theatre Royal); Old Vic New Voices 24 Hour Plays 2011 (The Old Vic). Associate Director: Communicating Doors (Menier Chocolate Factory), Theatre Uncut Flagship Tour 2014 (Soho/ Regional Tour), Symphony (Watch This Space, National Theatre/ Lyric Hammersmith/ Latitude Festival); Young Pretender (Edinburgh Festival 2011/ Hull Truck/ Watford Palace). Assistant Director: Othello (Shakespeare's Globe), Arcadia (English Touring Theatre), King Lear (Shakespeare's Globe 2013/2014), The International Actors Fellowship (Shakespeare's Globe), Our New Girl (Bush Theatre); Bunny (Fringe First Winner, Edinburgh Festival 2010/Regional Tour 2011); The Boy On The Swing (Arcola). Kirsty is Artistic Director of 'Waifs + Strays' theatre company. She was shortlisted for the JP Morgan Emerging Directors award in 2013 and was a finalist for the JMK Young Directors award in 2012. She also took part in the 'Old Vic New Voices TS Eliot US/UK Exchange' in 2011 and has assisted directors including Bill Buckhurst, Michael Buffong, Simon Godwin, Charlotte Gwinner, Blanche McIntyre, Joe Murphy and Lindsay Posner.

Just for Laughs Theatricals - Just for Laughs Theatricals is a subsidiary of Just for Laughs, the largest producer of Comedy in the world. Under the direction of CEO Adam Blanshay and Chairman Gilbert Rozon, the company produces work both on Broadway and in the UK, and since inception in 2013, has been involved with over 40 productions to date. They are the recipients of five Olivier Awards, including the 2015 award for Best New Musical for Sunny Afternoon, and one Tony Award for Kinky Boots. For more information, see www.hahaha.com/jflt.

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