Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen
Since the pandemic forced the temporary end of in-person theater, Geffen Playhouse audiences have performed magic tricks, solved puzzles, and investigated a cold case, all from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The latest Geffen Stayhouse offering brings new meaning to the phrase “dinner and a show.” In Bollywood Kitchen, based on filmmaker and chef Sri Rao’s cookbook of the same name, participants learn to make an authentic Indian meal, structured around stories about Rao’s immigrant parents and their love of Bollywood films.
Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld
Even before the performance began, I was hooked. I couldn’t stop smelling the spices. But if you think this is going to be just another cooking show you’d be wrong. It’s much more than that. It is an intimate, honest, and insightful immigrant story shared while preparing a meal, and an undeniable expression of love for family in all its wonderful messiness.
Rao originally conceived the show as a stage musical, but it has been reinvented for the virtual stage as part of The Geffen’s Stayhouse Theater series. Written by Rao, and directed with great sensitivity by Mukherjee, it affirms the power of food to heal and the importance of making a connection at a time when so many in the world are disconnected.
Now running through March 6, 2021