For the 27th rendition of FEED, an avant-garde, multi-sensory theatrical food experience, Amanda Berg Wilson, artistic director and co-founder of Boulder’s experimental theater group The Catamounts, set out to cook up something special.
“I wanted to engage local writers so the experience could be immediate and fresh,” Wilson says. “We always take a theme, like Salt or Preserve, and use it to develop a menu as well as create a philosophical pondering for the evening. The theme of ‘What comes after?’ was particularly compelling to me, because we have just come through a paradigm shift with the pandemic. This year’s theme has wonderful implications for the event’s menu and is also really rich artistically.”
Traditionally, the group has used scripted materials — like famous plays, short stories, poems and essays — or had the company members write scenes for the performances. Looking to bring new voices into the process, The Catamounts posed the event’s theme to four Colorado writers, Jessica Austgen, Sam Gilstrap, Felice Locker and Peter Trinh, and asked them to develop original pieces for FEED: Aprés.
The show features the world premieres of these four authors’ plays, along with live music and a four-course meal prepared by Boulder chef Bob Sargent, owner and executive chef of Savory Cuisines and The Ghost BBQ Catering, for each performance. FEED: Aprés draws its name from the French concept of “aprés-ski,” which translates to “after-ski.” This refers to the magical feeling skiers experience once their skis come off for the day and the evening activities at the lodge begin.
Guests will be treated to a menu inspired by traditional aprés foods, including bratwursts, crispy Swiss pancakes and plenty of booze. The event is tied together by mealtime music from local vocalist Nika Garcia and guitarist Bill Kopper, and live performances by Catamounts company members Joan Bruemmer-Holden, Sam Gilstrap, Maggie Tisdale, McPherson Horle and Jason Maxwell.
“I’ve found that doing FEED has helped me understand the importance of selection, curation and being as precise as possible,” says Gilstrap. “What you’re tasting, hearing and seeing has been curated for each piece. It’s such a full experience.”
Soup to nuts
The idea for FEED came from Catamounts’ associate company member Lauren Shepard, who works in the local craft beer and cider industry. Like Wilson, Shepard moved to Colorado after working in Chicago’s theater scene. One night, after rehearsals for The Catamounts’ debut show in 2011, Mr. Spacky…The Man Who Was Continuously Followed by Wolves, Shepard approached Wilson with a pitch for an original theatrical event.
“She had this crazy idea to integrate food with theater in a non-dinner theater way,” Wilson says. “In order to make the food and performance complement each other, she suggested that we craft theater pieces that would then be paired with a multi-course meal. We literally pair theater with food the way a chef pairs wine with a dish.”
According to Wilson, the process of preparing a tableside meal for the audience promotes a laid-back atmosphere that’s essential to the experience. To that end, guests are invited to eat throughout the performances and converse with their neighbors during the interludes.
“I think what a lot of people like about FEED is that it’s not quite such a sit-down, ‘shut up and be quiet for two hours’ type of theater experience,” Wilson says. “We ask people to be quiet for 10 minutes during the short performances, and then you can talk with the people around you about how you feel about what you’ve just witnessed while you’re eating.”
This informal atmosphere creates a challenge for the performers, who are competing with the food for audience members’ attention. Although some actors who are used to having a crowd’s full attention may find this situation frustrating, performer and Catamounts company member Jason Maxwell has grown to value the experience.
“As a performer, I felt like this was the closest thing to a real community that I’d ever experienced as an actor,” Maxwell says. “FEED is such a weird animal because you’re onstage, but you’re not; you are really just there in the moment with the audience. You learn pretty quickly that any tricks you had up your sleeve to help get emotion across in a bigger theater are just completely unnecessary, which allows for subtle, quiet acting.”
And while some of the performances may pose contemplative questions, the company hopes that the overall tone of the evening is peaceful and warm without shying away from the weighty themes unpacked throughout.
“So rarely do you have a theatrical experience that can gently pose heavy questions, but that’s what this does,” Gilstrap says. “It’s nice because these pieces have great comedy and important introspection, as well as permission to just feel and not have all the answers.”
ON STAGE: FEED: Aprés by Jessica Austgen, Sam Gilstrap, Felice Locker and Peter Trinh. Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m., Feb. 17–March 5, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Tickets here.
