The Kitchen

In a nutshell:
100 kilos of rice, sugar, almonds, milk, raisins, cardamom and ghee/ Ritualistic, sensual rhythms / Divine drumming

The Kitchen is as far from any TV cooking show as you can get. It's cooking on a whole other level - cooking as a metaphor for life.

A unique theatrical experience, The Kitchen serves up a ritual fusion of sight, sound, smell and taste all the way from South India. On stage a couple enact a drama without words, stirring huge steamy vats of payasam, a traditional Indian dessert. Behind them, under coppery light, 12 drummers beat out a surging rhythm on their sacred mizhavu drums while the fragrance of aromatic rice wafts through the theatre. This mesmerising mix delights all the senses - especially taste - as the payasam is passed around for sharing afterwards.

Audiences were wowed when Indian director Roysten Abel was in Auckland in 2011 with the wildly entertaining concert The Manganiyar Seduction. See what he has in store now.

Come hear the drums, smell the cardamom, taste the payasam, satiate your soul and rediscover the simple joys of life at The Kitchen. 

Co-produced by Auckland Arts Festival, Sydney Festival and Holland Festival

Photograph: Kr Vinayan

Post-show Tuesday 17 March

With Support from Platinum Patrons Andrew and Jenny Smith

www.roystenabel.com/kitchen.html