Spiritual cookery and the French Revolution take the stage

By Jeff Kubik

Is there something to be learned from the noble carrot? Wisdom is flaky pastry? Can you find salvation in an eclair? Enter the kitchen of Antonin Carême–if you don’t elevate your consciousness, you can at least be assured a good meal.


For those uninitiated in one of Calgary’s most famous puppet theatre companies, rest assured: the Old Trout Puppet Workshop’s latest serving of puppetry goodness, The Last Supper, isn’t just delicious, it’s also enlightening.


"It’s a tale of food, salvation and man’s struggle to find the balance therein," says Trout member Pete Balkwill. "Salvation from the simple things rather than grand ventures–the humble act of being a simple person."


In The Last Supper, a humble French kitchen is juxtaposed against the backdrop of the French Revolution; bread is kneaded and prepared alongside bloodshed and terror. Silent save for the ambient noises of the kitchen, its characters have only each other and their bleak, urban world.


Originally the story of a man, his lunch and the whole of history’s influence in a single sandwich, the production has since evolved into a hybrid of biography and philosophy. Historical, spiritual and complete with a cast of more than 20 puppets, The Last Supper is an edifying experience in the most complete sense of the word.


"Antonin Carême, the father of French cuisine, was a chef in and around the French Revolution," explains Balkwill. "The Last Supper is the story of his life and it includes many of the implications that underlie our own lives. What are the things that carry on and impact others later on? How will I be remembered? It could be a random act."


There is a haunting beauty on the stage as the Trouts create the world of Carême’s childhood. An intricate stage reveals two worlds: one the nearly claustrophobic world of a mentor’s kitchen, the other a dynamic environment that is at once a bridge where Carême’s father abandons him and again the snow-covered cemetery of post-revolutionary France. Every actor is a handcrafted work of art and the intimacy of this exchange is undeniable.


Though the Trouts have already expanded beyond the stage with a short film premiering on Bravo! entitled Commedia Moderna as well as a 25-minute interpretation of the life of Rasputin, their continuing collaboration with the One Yellow Rabbit theatre company shows their love of the stage–an independent place where cuisine is allowed to mingle freely with the spiritual, where audiences applaud to grandiose visions of the kitchen.


"There’s definitely a kindred spirit among performers, that crazy bohemian lifestyle," says Blackwill. "The demographic is smaller and not bound to be offended."


Puppets and theatre? Who would dare take offence?