Aubergine is a Quiet Pleasure

"We're always already dead - so why not live?"

Photo by Rich Ryan

The culinary world has been having a good run in pop culture for the last decade or so. Beginning with the explosion of food TV pioneered by Emeril Lagasse, Anthony Bourdain and the Food Network, culinary stories have finally trickled onto stages around the country. What's that all about? It might be because food is a universal human need and a communication device that can transcend cultural barriers and provide a new window into subjects that normally function as taboo.

Photo by Rich Ryan

The last few years have seen a host of food-themed shows in #tctheater. How To Use A Knife told the true story about life as a chef, which is much darker than most people suspect. Waitress is a musical about a server whose real talent is in baking pies, which helps her escape her abusive husband. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner explores the tensions over a meal when a "liberal" couple realizes their white daughter plans to marry a black man in the 1960s. The inimitable playwright Lynn Nottage focuses Floyd's on the life of inmates struggling to integrate in society after release from prison and sets the entire show in the kitchen of a sandwich restaurant.

Photo by Rich Ryan

And now we have Aubergine at Park Square Theatre, a story about illness and death and cultural memory as intimately related through food. Ray is a chef who is on an indefinite hiatus from work to take care of his father, who is very sick and near dying. Ray's mother died in an accident when he was young and Ray has no support system to help him through this difficult time. He turns to an ex-girlfriend, Cornelia, to help him contact his father's younger brother back home in Korea before his father dies (Ray does not speak much Korean himself). Cornelia reluctantly helps Ray and becomes an integral part of Ray's life in his father's last days, interpreting conversations between Ray and his uncle, and helping heal some longstanding wounds within Ray and his family memories. Lucien, the hospice nurse attending Ray's father, also becomes a calming presence in Ray's life as his father dies. It's a quiet exploration of what really matters in life and the relationships we need to maintain to stay connected to our humanity and happiness, a lovely message.

Photo by Rich Ryan

The main thing that attracted me to Aubergine was the cast, featuring some of my favorite local actors. Sun Mee Chomet, always a highlight, shines as Cornelia. She delivers a wide range of lines in Korean and English with equal aptitude, and provides many of Aubergine's comedic and poignant highlights. Kurt Kwan brings subtlety and heart to his role as Ray. You really feel for his plight and driftlessness, and he has great chemistry with Chomet. Song Kim is lovely as Ray's long-estranged uncle, and despite the fact that he almost exclusively has lines in Korean, we know exactly what he means to say. It adds a delightful depth to the show, and I loved the nuance the linguistic transitions provided. Darrick Moseley adds so much warmth to the stage through his portrayal of Lucien; he has a softness and heart that breaks open Ray's character.

Photo by Rich Ryan

The real focus of Aubergine is on Ray's emotional turmoil, and the production design facilitates that well. The set design by Deb O centers mostly on the hospice bed and a few sparse areas in Ray's home. It is relatively drab but that's okay, because it's supposed to be. The same can be said of the costume design by Amber Brown. Kathy Maxwell's video design is one of the few welcome pops of color, and well chosen props design by Kenji Shoemaker provides the attention to detail that makes the blander settings come to life. I'm not sure if Chomet's striking platinum bob was a production choice or her own decision, but either way it adds a subtle characterization to her portrayal of Cornelia that I thought was very fetch. 

Photo by Rich Ryan

I adore Theater Mu and I love seeing them partner with other theaters in town, but I have to say that it's really nice to see a main stage in the Twin Cities doing a story about Asian Americans on their own too. Aubergine is a lovely little play with some important things to say, and it deserves the kind of wider platform a place like Park Square Theatre can give it. Chomet and Kwan are charming co-stars, and the hard work Park Square Theatre has done to portray cultures accurately does not go unnoticed. Regardless of your family heritage, I think anyone can connect to Aubergine's messages of loss, loneliness, fear and love. I'd definitely recommend crossing the river to see this show before it closes on October 20. For more information or to buy tickets, click on this link.

Photo by Rich Ryan