DramaLondonReview

The Hot Wing King – National Theatre, London

Reviewer: Richard Maguire

Writer: Katori Hall

Director: Roy Alexander Weise

Despite its title, and the cooking of chicken on stage, The Hot Wing King is as American as apple pie. The play may be about black gay men living in Memphis but the focus is on the importance of family and the American Dream. There’s even a basketball hoop in the backyard, around which differences are resolved. As long as you can make a basket, you will be fine is the underlying message of this traditional drama. Thankfully, the sentimentality is tempered somewhat by some outrageous comedy.

It’s not surprising that The Hot Wing King won the Pulitzer in 2021 as Katori Hall’s play is the kind of drama that the Pulitzer judges love. It’s long – running at over three hours – uses a single set and is very talky. Its themes of fatherhood and masculinity are universal.

Cordell is preparing chicken wings in the house he shares with boyfriend Dwayne. He hopes to win a culinary competition taking place the next day. But the marinading is interrupted when Dwayne’s 16-year-old nephew arrives, bin bags in hands, looking for somewhere to crash. The last time that EJ was in their house, he stole money from Dwayne’s wallet so it’s understandable that the boyfriends are wary of letting him stay.

Cordell doesn’t want to be a proxy father for the boy; he’s already got two sons back in St Louis and they won’t forgive him for cheating on their mother. Of course, as EJ is his sister’s son, Dwayne is less reluctant to turn his nephew away. Dwayne also feels guilty that he hadn’t helped his sister more when she was alive. She died while being restrained by the police.

Around all this drama, chicken is being prepped, sauces are being stirred, all while watching a basketball game on the TV. However, as Cordell and Dwayne spend most of the time arguing, the cooking is left to their friends, the flamboyant Isom and barber Big Charles. Can they be trusted with the ingredients? Naturally, they can’t, to great comic effect.

Director Roy Alexander Weise adapts a sitcom vibe to the play. When characters walk in the front door of set designer Rajha Shakiry’s house, so impressive that you have to double-check you’re not in a bigger venue than the Dorfman, you expect a soundtrack of canned laughter to accompany their entrances. Tender scenes are paired with annoyingly syrupy music that is unnecessary as if doubting the audience’s response.

Although some accents go awry, the acting of the six actors is dependably good. Kadiff Kirwan portrays Cordell’s complexity well, demonstrating how he sublimates his worries into cooking. However, he never appears to be the man-boy that Dwayne is always accusing him of being. Olisa Odele gets most of the laughs as Isom while Jason Barnett gives Big Charles a sweet vacancy. There are some wonderful facial expressions from Kaireece Denton, in his professional debut, as EJ.

Simon-Anthony Rhoden as Dwayne appears to be the most confident on stage, switching from efficient hotel manager to playful rogue, especially when there’s some singing to be done. He has a lovely voice and when he joins the others in a rendition of Luther Vandross’s Never Too Much, the joy is infectious. However, his song (which, thankfully, isn’t Vandross’s Dance with My Father) in the second half seems a little manipulative in the way it pulls at the heartstrings. But there’s still something a little dislikeable about Dwayne in the way he patronises Cordell and in the way he steps back from the cooking competition.

Although The Hot Wing King’s main concern is family, it’s also about money and conspicuous consumption. Dwayne’s house is sumptuous and so are his Versace slippers which are eagerly coveted by TJ (an excellent Dwane Walcott), EJ’s roadman father. Isom talks about Chanel and Gucci and initially refuses to wear the gaudy shirts that Dwayne has bought for the New Wing Order, the name given to Cordell’s cooking crew.

Capital – something Dwayne discusses early on in the play – and its connection to the American Dream where hard work yields results threatens to overshadow the stories of these black gay men trying to thrive in Memphis. It’s a miracle in itself that such a big production is centred on the lives of queer black men, but only TJ’s homophobia directly shows the difficulties that these men have in making their way in the States. While we all know the American Dream is a myth, The Hot Wing King serves only to perpetuate it.

Runs until 14 September 2024

The Reviews Hub Score

As American as apple pie

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The Reviews Hub - London

The Reviews Hub London is under the editorship of Richard Maguire. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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