(L-R): Muffin Character Hanshake and General Molar, the dog. Photo by Sue Kessler
The troupe that comprises Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant provides a three-hour performance interspersed with the serving of food: soup, salad, sandwich, and dessert, washed down with pitchers of sangria. The performance, made up of songs, dance routines, stand-up patter, and audience participation, roughly follows the story of aging diva Muffin Character Hanshake's struggle with the decision whether to have a child ("roughly" because coherent narrative is hardly the goal of the evening). It's all a lot of fun, and the food and performances are top-notch.
The name comes from the group's discovery, while in Maine, of an abandoned restaurant with the moniker they now use, which prompted them to begin a journey of providing dinner with theatre without becoming a dinner theatre. They bill themselves as "avant garde," but they are much more musical hall than "avant," and they're committed to providing an entertaining evening that is a bit bawdy, a bit cheeky, a bit risky, but with none of these qualities pushed hard enough to make anyone uncomfortable or even meditative.
What else is left to say? Everyone had a good time and left the theatre well-nourished. Of how many evenings of theatre can that be said these days?
(August 2009)