Lots of Cooks in This Kitchen

KK Moggie, left, Sarah Marshall, center, and Joseph Anthony Foronda, right, serve a variety of Asian specialties with a side of political critiques in “The Golden Dragon.”

Studio Theatre’s “The Golden Dragon” consists of 48 scenes in 80 minutes. Five actors play 16 roles. For those, each actor assumes three characteristics — gender, age and ethnicity — that differ from his or her own. There are also two non-human personas (a cricket and an ant) and one inanimate object (a rotting tooth).

Clearly, German dramatist Roland Schimmelpfennig’s 2009 work requires some nonlinear thinking from its audience. But its tiny-yet-diverse cast does most of the heavy lifting in this play about the intersecting lives of German families, Asian immigrants and globe-trotting stewardesses, set in a pan-Asian restaurant in an unspecified German city.

“With the play broken into 48 scenes, it would be a challenge to stop the action every two or three minutes,” says director Serge Seiden. “So we tried to smooth out those transitions.” Instead of leaving the stage to shift between roles, actors switch characters on the spot.

It’s certainly a change from what even regular theatergoers may be used to. Though “Golden Dragon” has been widely produced in Europe, Studio Theatre’s production is its U.S. premiere. “It’s just not like the stuff we tend to do here in the States, straight-up plays,” admits actress Sarah Marshall, who portrays an elderly cook, a middle-aged shopkeeper and a teen girl in the play — and an ant.

The play is much more than the sum of its constantly changing parts. Globalization and its accompanying politics loom large: When a cook suffers a toothache, proper medical care is out of reach, as it is for many immigrants to Europe. Instead, he’s treated by his co-workers, with disastrous, if shockingly funny, results.

“It’s a comedy with a brutal edge,” Seiden says.

Pre-Show Prep
Twenty-five Asian dishes are ordered from the Golden Dragon throughout the play. To learn how to pretend to make the food, the cast took behind-the-scenes tours of local restaurants including Great Wall Szechuan House and Spices. “Not everybody knows how to cook Chinese food on a wok over a hot stove,” says director Serge Seiden.