Eat Your Heart Out
Materialistic obsession meets the meaning of life: rare, never on sale, impossible to define and the ultimate status symbol.
Two unashamedly avaricious sisters glory in their status as Ladies Who Lunch. But they don’t have it all. The death of their mother draws one sister’s attention to the hollowness of charity galas, tonal harmony and eating for your dosha. The other sister militantly defends a life in pastels, resisting this exploration of ‘why?’ Neither woman is accustomed to being contradicted. And fine dining requires sharp knives.
Eat Your Heart Out is a theatrical work in development, a satirical bent on our consumerist society. The story is about two sisters united by privilege, who always do Tuesday lunch. At this time of stress and bewilderment they only have to navigate the menu. But they don’t have it all. Despite the jewels, clothes, houses and holidays, one sister is appalled to find that she is missing the meaning of life, like forgetting the most important item on her shopping list. Materialistic obsession meets the meaning of life; rare, never on sale, impossible to define and the ultimate status symbol.
The sisters, due to their social remove, have a uniquely brutal perspective on the machinations of ‘ordinary’ people. Shared between just the two of them, hypocrisies and pseudo moral stances, are revealed without shame or reserve. The hunt for meaning is highly relatable and funniest when it’s close to true. The rapid fire dialogue rises to a chaotic ‘coup de theatre’ with dynamic physical manifestations of the women’s crisis.
This is the second script by Angela Buckingham to be produced by The Shift Theatre. It will be directed by Peter Houghton, design by Sophie Woodward.
