Abe Koogler’s latest play, Staff Meal, debuting at Playwrights Horizons, is more like a pousse-café of playlets. Each piled-on scene – though linked, they pop up as surprises – adds a bit of chaos and confusion, and also more depth.
The opening scenario shows two freelancers – Susannah Flood as Mina, Greg Keller as Ben – awkwardly parlaying their propinquity at an internet café into a possible rapport. The dialogue for the first few scenes (blackouts by lighting designer Masha Tsimring) is limited to awkward exchanges of a noncommital “hey” – hilarious every time. Mina emerges as marginally more the initiator: she is clearly experiencing some sort of spark – or perhaps a “ping,” to use the term, noun or verb, that both favor.
Comfort level growing, they head out for a walk and exchange anodyne childhood memories, echoing each other à la Ionesco. “Hey I had a dog, too!” Mina marvels. Greg’s dog story, unfurled later, will prove a whole lot shaggier and scarier.
After they repair to a nearby restaurant (scenic designer Jian Jung’s sliding flats make for easy transitions), Ben goes off on a loopy rant about trying to track down the “past life” ping he feels with regard to tales of sinking ships. A youthful viewing of Titanic was triggering, of course, but he’s convinced that the memory goes back further – centuries further, he insists, venturing into a very dicey supposition about his corporeal form way back when.
If anything, Mina one-ups him. She’s convinced that she is somehow viscerally linked, not to any one specific physical experience, but to fictional characters: “I pinged hard on Moby Dick.”
With that, all bets are off – clearly, these two loons are made for each other – and I wouldn’t want to spoil too many of the ensuing surprises, so stop here if you prefer. Or pause, at any rate, to consider the couple’s exchange as prime material for scene-study class.
An audience member erupts, calling bullshit. It’s unlikely that you’ll spot her beforehand: With all the TV she has done, OBIE-winner Stephanie Berry ought to be a household face by now, but she manages to blend right in.
Spiel delivered (complete with dance moves!), the protestor sputters off, and we get a primer in the cultish credo of a top-tier restaurant.
Two veteran servers (Jess Barbagallo and Carmen M. Herlihy) have clearly swallowed the Roederer-caliber Kool-Aid. They try to school a newbie (Hampton Fluker, touchingly eager and vulnerable) in the gospel according to the smug executive chef (Erin Markey), but he remains somewhat mystified.
The parody is brilliant, and we’ll soon be seeing Markey again in a different guise, one of a trio of embodiments (kudos to costume designer Kaye Voyce for her inspired rendition of a “power suit”).
Director Morgan Green keeps the absurdities coursing along, and if the play ultimately sounds a warning note, that fits in neatly as well. The mystical rites of haute cuisine are prefaced by the song of a warbling, warning bird – that moment passes by in a blink – so don’t be too surprised if all the disparate ingredients bubble up into an apocalyptic boil.
There’s enough great material in Staff Meal to furnish a half-dozen plays. Some audience members might – like the outspoken protestor – object to Koogler’s eclectic recipe, but anyone who appreciates innovation will applaud this imaginative mélange.
Staff Meal opened April 28, 2024, at Playwrights Horizons and runs through May 19. Tickets and information: playwrightshorizons.org
