With The Grill (Jokes About Ovens),the challenge is to identify, rather than summarise, the plot. Keir Starmer must really be cracking down on dissent as (without giving an explanation) the play works on the premise capital punishment has been re-introduced in UK gaols. The Guard (Jacob Bell), faced with a walk-out by unionised catering staff, recruits non-union workers to prepare a last meal for notorious prisoner Dawson (Reuben Gotts).
However, recruits Wally (Josh Bird) and Tom (Noah Fox) share the same secret: both bluffed their way into catering jobs for which they are not qualified. To make bad matters worse, the ovens in the prison are failing, so any cooking must be done using only the grill.
The disjointed script by Noah Fox, Josh Bird and Tom Faulkner feels like a collection of monologues and duologues which may have been written in isolation and assembled to form the play. Reuben Gotts delivers a powerful closing monologue, but it is hard to see how it connects with what has gone before.
The morality of the death penalty is not debated, and the purpose of allowing the condemned prisoner a last meal is not discussed, although it is noted history records the last meal eaten by Jesus. A routine which parodies Paul Gascoigne’s confused involvement in the Raoul Moat manhunt seems to have been included for no reason other than possibly to promote a degree of outrage.
In the absence of a clear plot and punchlines, director Adam Cachia sets a mood of amiable observational comedy. There is a nostalgic tone as the characters recall the eccentricities of their grandparents or get misty-eyed over the quality of the Pick'n'mix counter at Woolworths. But the lack of a climax to work towards results in a play which ambles along without the rapid pace needed for successful comedy.
The pretensions of the food industry are ripe for mockery, but to be successful, such an approach requires a degree of prior awareness (of terminology, ingredients and techniques) in both the audience and the authors. Consequently, food humour in the play is distinctly down-market, with a routine on how consumers might best exploit ‘meal deal’ offers and the underhand ways in which supermarkets prevent such action.
The acting is of a higher quality than the script. Reuben Gotts makes a strong, sinister impression in his brief appearance, and there is a highly-strung, simmering Basil Fawlty quality to Jacob Bell’s Guard. Noah Fox and Josh Bird (who co-wrote the script with Tom Faulkner) make a fine double act, exploring the things which their characters have in common whilst making them distinct individuals. The interaction between Fox and Bird is so successful, the play may be intended as a collection of the laddish misadventures of Wally and Tom as they gleefully share tales of skiving off work and shoplifting.
Although too uneven to be fully successful, The Grill (Jokes About Ovens) features some decent performances.