One-woman show offers food as metaphor for life

  The Lotus Group Dorothy Lyman stars in
"My Kitchen Wars-A Marriage Digested" at the 2nd Stage Theatre.

By Esther Pasternak
Daily Bruin Contributor

Someone looking for the meaning of life does not need to look
past his or her kitchen ““ lobsters, crackers, soda and cheese
all provide the answers.

In the one-woman show “My Kitchen Wars ““ A Marriage
Digested,” Betty Fussell (Dorothy Lyman) utilizes foods such
as these as metaphors for life. The play, currently showing at the
2nd Stage Theatre, is a true story based on the book Fussell wrote
about her life.

The 2nd Stage Theatre in Hollywood adds to the intimate mood of
the play. Because the theatre is so small, the audience feels as if
they are sitting in Betty’s kitchen, watching her prepare a
meal while she reveals her life story.

The play opens with Betty dancing in the kitchen while she
cooks. She takes a live lobster out of a tank, places it on a
cutting board and raises a knife above her head. Her eyes gleam as
bright as the knife as she salivates in anticipation. Tension fills
the room, and the audience gasps in suspense as she lowers the
knife several times.

Suddenly the set becomes dark, and the sound of a knife hitting
the cutting board resonates. The mood of suspense is something
which remains strong throughout the play, as Betty uses it to
capture the audience’s attention throughout the entire two
hours.

Betty reminisces about her past over the course of the evening
by describing the contrast between life among her strict Protestant
family and life at Pamona College. She uses food as a metaphor for
her life from the beginning of the play, describing college in
terms of opening her mouth to new worlds. For instance, the soft
drinks that were once forbidden at home due to their caffeine
content represent her stronger, more dramatic, new independent life
in college.

“There was no revolution bigger in campus than the one
that was going on in my mouth,” she comments in the play.

Betty’s story continues as she describes how she met her
husband Paul, a World War II Vet, at Pamona College. Betty, once
again, uses food to symbolize both their strong love, in terms of
thick steaks and baked potatoes, and their first signs of marital
problems ““ Paul becomes upset when Betty puts peanuts in the
salad dressing.

Eventually, Betty becomes a mother, and slowly becomes resentful
with her role in life as a woman. While Paul focuses on writing and
his job as a professor, Betty longs for more than cooking and
cleaning. As the decades go by, signified by passing wars and
shifting societal values, Betty becomes increasingly restless and
tires of cooking for dinner parties.

The ’70s bring further tension to their marriage as Betty
begins a passionate affair due to her longing for intimacy in her
life. Betty uses food to describe the temporary passion the affair
brought her.

“My body felt like one of my meals,” she says.

A souffle Betty cooks, for instance, represents the
superficiality she sees in her life. A souffle is mostly air and
fluff and Betty understands that her life is not much more. She
explains how she decides to face her broken marriage and pursue her
own dreams in life.

Throughout the play it is easy to forget that “My Kitchen
Wars” is a one-woman play. Betty is able to stir the
imagination of the audience by using the perfect balance of
emotion, detail and rich metaphors.

The live music performed by Melissa Sweeney and Jon Sachs adds
additional depth and symbolic meaning to the play. When Betty
begins to feel more confident and comfortable with her sexuality,
for instance, the song “If You Want My Body”
illustrates the change.

An especially interactive and touching scene is when Betty
slowly describes giving birth to a stillborn. As she explains, she
begins cutting an onion. The sharp smell fills the theater and
makes the audience tear as much as Betty.

At the end of the play, both the meal she began to concoct at
the beginning and her story are complete. As Betty starts to eat
her meal alone, the audience feels both satisfied and hungry
““ similar to how Betty feels as she finally faces her
problems.

THEATER: “My Kitchen Wars ““ A
Marriage Digested” runs at the 2nd Stage Theatre, 6500 Santa
Monica Blvd., in Hollywood. It plays Thursdays through Saturdays at
8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. through Feb. 18. All
tickets are $20. Call (323) 661-9827 for information and
tickets.