Review: The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights (Park Theatre)

Review by Sam Waite

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The never-ending quest for equal opportunities is littered with hardships, and unfortunately the nature of life itself dictates that some must come from fellow travellers. In her playwrighting debut, Hannah Doran must put her characters through the constant challenges of life along the poverty line, as well as facing them with the reality that a lack of opportunities will sometimes mean that they must play dirty, be underhanded in their treatment of one another to stand a chance of maintaining the status quo, never mind daring to reach for success.

Making its world premiere at the Park Theatre, The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights actually opens in Williamsburg, where the trio of workers at Cararelli & Sons is introduced to their new summer temp, named only T. She’s young, she’s not long out of prison, and she’s there thanks to the urging of her cousin and coworker Billy, real name Jésus. Billy and JD (Juan Diego) are apprentices, while David (nicknamed Bernie, owing to a past involving Wall Street success and drug-fuelled disgrace) is a senior cutter, soon to have one of the apprentices as his junior should they pass their upcoming cut test. A year of working later, Billy is facing the test for the third time and needs the raise to support chemotherapy for his mother, while JD is newer but objectively more skilled, and having come to New York as a child needs money to renew his DACA (Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals) and remain able to legally work in the US.

Despite the dire circumstances surrounding each of the characters, from Billy and T’s struggles to be accepted back into society to owner Paula Cafarelli’s increasingly desperate financial situation, The Meat Kings is often a very funny show. Once the New York accents have settled down – a jarring accent form any Brit, and definitely more consistent from some of this cast than others – the workplace banter flies back and forth, and we see the connections that have allowed the business to not fall into despair despite the ongoing hardships. From Billy and David’s opening mockery of JD’s love-life to the latter’s flailing attempts to flirt with his new colleague, there are some solid one-liners and some terrific opportunities not only for laughter but to see the bonds that have grown out of their time alone in that back room.

Tasked with the newcomer role, the character who asks questions so the audience can be kept on track, Mithra Malek gives an endearing and richly felt performance as T. With T being new to Cafarelli & Sons, Malek quickly establishes the new dynamics being formed, and has an effortless, charming chemistry with Marcello Cruz. As JD, Cruz strikes a youthful, easy-to-like note that helps smooth the road for the emotional journeys through both past and present the characters need to guide us through. Overseeing the team with a firm hand but the right touches of gentleness, Jackie Clune brings a nice, lived-in quality to the role of Paula, her drifts into kindness and charity feeling natural to her character rather than merely necessary to the plot.

Hardly a weaker performer but perhaps a less nuanced character, Eugene McCoy carries the role of David with the right balance of swagger and dejectedness, of readiness to work and annoyance at what he must tolerate. On paper, the character seems to exist largely to be talked about, to serve Doran’s occasional hand-holding of the audience, and to ensure events happen as they need to – unfortunately, McCoy cannot consistently work around these limitations, striking though he is in his final moments. Our final character is not a weak one, nor is his actor, though Billy himself may well be a weak man. Scrappy, desperate to pull ahead in his introduction, the character progressively reveals more underhanded and selfish qualities – it’s a strong testament to Ash Hunter’s well-honed performance that I felt an immediate annoyance any time he entered a scene, waiting to see what foolishness was still to come from Billy.

George Turvey proves to be a well-matched director for Doran’s work, softening some of her over-explaining through a natural, friendly but blunt quality between the colleagues. While their bantering is thick and fast, there are quieter moments where Turvey allows what we’ve just heard to breathe, making the info-dump less abrasive – despite our already knowing David’s backstory, one such pause following his own telling of early success allows that pivotal response to permeate the room, though it’s never said… “And now you’re here.” Here is the cutting room of Cafarelli & Son’s, in which all of the action takes place, and which has been brought to gloriously dismal life by Mona Camille. From the moment the audience enter the space they are within this cold, barren space, and welcomed to find all of the minor details that makes this a lived-in, oddly attractive space to inhabit.

A workplace romance complicated by the threat of ICE, a young man’s struggle to afford his mother’s care, a former playboy reduced to simply being the highest up at the lowest place, a woman in her father’s father’sfather’s business trying not to be the one to finally sink it. There are so many threads to be pulled in The Meat Kings, such a careful balance that you feel it could all collapse at any time. But that’s risk is where the real thrills of the performance come to life, where director and writer seem so different in their approaches and yet so in sync. Where The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights shows its weaknesses, the production finds a strength to counter it, and vice versa.

As imperfect, as alternately easy to root both for and against as some of its characters, this is a play that proves how compelling shortcomings can be, and that these small faults can be easily forgiven when the full package comes together. A strong debut for Hannah Doran and a fine display for this small ensemble of talented actors, this workplace dramedy reminds us just how important it is to find something you care about, and people who will care about you, and to remember just how easily those same loves, those same connections, can be ripped away.

The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights plays at the Park Theatre until November 29^th

For tickets and information visit https://parktheatre.co.uk/events/the-meat-kings/

Photos by Mark Douet