Where You Eat

Written by Dennis Bush

Fresh Fruit Festival

The Wild Project

195 East 3rd Street

NYC

Review by Nusrat Hossain

Titles are everywhere and can say a lot about, a person, place or thing. A play’s title can also say a lot about what it may be about. However, this is not always the case. Where You Eat, written by Dennis Bush is not about food but instead it is rather a very funny piece on how small the world really is. It is about sex, hook-up culture, affairs, love and so much more. This witty plot is surrounded by the lives of 8 characters, whose lives are interconnected in ways they can’t even imagine.  

The play begins with Rusty, a “highly specialized” PR person in his early 20’s. Rusty is friends with Meredith, whom he met on an online site because of a strange request to see her vagina. Rusty is gay and has a sister named Lisa, in a relationship with a boyfriend whose paralyzed, but the relationship is open so she is free to “hook up” with anyone she chooses, and she chooses a someone named Steve. Steve is in a relationship with Kelly while having an affair with Lisa. Steve works with a guy named Dalton, who also happens to be gay, and involved with Rusty through a hookup app. Dalton is also friends with Kelly whose friends with Carole, who’s dating Don, who is childhood “play” buddies with Rusty and has also hooked up with his sister, Lisa.  

Thank you, Arthur Schnitzler, for paving the way in 1897.

The play begins with Rusty looking at Meredith’s vagina since he has never seen one before. Actors Scot Taylor and Kelsey Torstveit do an incredible job at entertaining the audience. Rusty and Meredith go on to become great friends after the grand showing of her vagina. Their relationship truly goes to show the weird ways we make friends and new connections. A part that stood out the most was the ongoing tension between Dalton and Rusty. Dalton and Rusty met on a hook up app and are not in a serious relationship. However, Rusty comes upon a desire to be in a relationship with Dalton. However, Dalton does not want a relationship. Like most characters in the play, he is very used to his routine and appears to be afraid of commitment. This goes on to show this new epidemic of “hook up culture” and looking for a temporary burst of pleasure rather than a long-term path of happiness and struggle. However, the different dynamics in each relationship in the play also teaches one to be open with him/her self sexually and or emotionally. As humans it is very important to accept ourselves as who we truly are despite our flaws. Everyone has different expectations of life and we cannot always look to what others do, say or feel.  

Where You Eat, is well directed by Meggy Lykins. The top-notch ensemble of Scot Taylor as Rusty, Kelsey Torstveit as Meredith, Veronica Thompson as Lisa, John DiMino as Steve, Melissa Teitel as Carole, Chapman Hyatt as Dalton, Chrizney Roth as Kelly and Dan Foster as Don were not only very funny but kept the audience engaged and enthralled. I thought that this piece was funny, informative and very interesting. I would recommend it highly.