Writer: YK
Director: Keyuan Zhang
Not quite ready to come to the stage yet is YK’s Taste Like Egg Fried Rice, about a group of immigrants struggling to get by in London. With some bold stagecraft, this play is let down by some portrayals of national stereotypes and a rambling story.
Annie, from China, is just about to finish her law degree, but after applying for over 200 jobs, she’s only reached the interview stage for a handful of law firms. To make ends meet, she works in a busy Italian restaurant owned by Giovanni. She lives with her girlfriend Clara, who spends all her days making TikTok videos, one of which promotes a pizza chain. It’s a surprise she has any followers, so smug is she.
Throw into the mix, theatrical flatmate Lin and a lazy landlord, and we have our cast. Some scenes are imaginatively filmed on an iPhone and then projected on a huge screen on the right of the stage. Most work, but apart from a nod to iconic director Katie Mitchell, the reason for such gimmicks is unclear. Of course, some of the videos align with Clara’s addiction to social media, but why does the landlord (Joshua Kwan) have to film himself sitting in the kitchen with his feet on the table?
More problematic is Zak Rosen’s depiction of the Italian chef. While Rosen is very watchable, his Giovanni falls into the worst kind of stereotype, clashing kitchen utensils as he orders Annie around the restaurant floor. And is Clara (Lalia Bron) meant to be Spanish or French?
Mary Emma He has the best of the night as Annie, while Wenqi Yu is the languorous Lin, but the fat suit he wears in his other role as the new tenant of the flat could be offensive to some.
The Bridewell’s deep stage is a difficult space for fringe shows only on for a couple of nights, but director Keyuan Zhang manages to use most of it. And while there are some nice touches with the projections, scene changes are long, unnecessary and occasionally silent, with a performer having to go across the stage to collect a forgotten prop at one time. Also, a few times, the actors speak with their backs turned to the audience, and it’s almost impossible to catch what they are saying.
Taste Like Egg Fried Rice would perhaps work best as a one-person show, so that Annie’s story becomes the main focus. At the moment, she rather gets lots amongst the other ingredients.
Runs until 22 August 2025
Camden Fringe runs until 24 August 2025
