Louis Saia and Pierre Huet teamed up last summer to adapt the legendary situation comedy on stage Symphorian. Building on the success of the show, the duo of seasoned authors returned to the kitchen, this time with an original creation. Presented at the Vieux-Terrebonne theater, Yannicko’s kitchen is inspired by the popularity of cooking shows and features a kind of sub-Ricardo – a personality that has a surprise in store for us… But the comedy leaves us wanting more, to say the least.
The play takes us to a few recordings, but above all to what is cooking behind the scenes. Chef Yannicko (Bobby Beshro) becomes conceited, anxious and difficult as soon as the cameras go down. And in order to vitaminize his starving ratings, a very sharp new producer (Sylvie Moreau) imposes on the host a more up-to-date partner: his own son, Ronaldo. A flashy Beach Club-style “mixologist” with a vocabulary as approximate as Franglais which is, of course, becoming a sensation on social media.
The piece, very supported by the video, does not lack ambition. But one wonders: what did we want to satirize, exactly, in this comedy that stretches in length? The parody of show culinary could easily have gone further, been more corrosive, it seems to me. The story, which includes a dozen characters, is scattered, especially in a secondary plot whose interest is difficult to understand, with Yannicko’s police daughter. Certain scenes seem intended to flesh out or humanize the two protagonists. Thus, this heavily psychological dialogue at the end of the course, integrating a flashback childhood – supposed to explain the attitude of the producer? — which seems incongruous.
Lack of punch
A bit as if the authors had not decided what kind of play they wanted to make, between these poorly integrated attempts at deepening and an old-fashioned comedy based mainly on caricatural secondary characters, rather than on the spirit of repartee (good lines are rare). Upon arrival, the show lacks punch. And let’s skip over the few old or dubious jokes, notably about the lesbian director or the sextapethat the producer once shot.
Perhaps what emerges above all from the piece is the caricature that we seek to draw of the current era, an era in which social networks are starring a superficial and ignorant being like Ronaldo. And it must be admitted that the young actor Émile Dufour goes full speed ahead, making the character a delightful caricature on two legs. He energizes the scenes where he appears, in particular thanks to his performance of physical comedy in the art of stirring cocktails.
For her part, Joanie Guérin (recently admired in the oh so different Unbearable long embraces at the Prospero theatre…) nevertheless gives a rather charming freshness to his clumsy assistant. France Parent and Claude Tremblay are transformed in their multiple stereotyped compositions. The latter manages to engage the audience by playing a silly crowd entertainer. As for Sylvie Moreau, the actress is equal to herself, but in a role where her talent is rather wasted.
The show directed by Louis Saia nevertheless deploys a wealth of means: the play set in a television studio relies heavily on video, with three screens on stage, which allows exterior views, to incorporate scenes in other places. The sequences – directed by Pierre Séguin – describing the rise of Ronaldo or his advertising with the slogan as irresistible as it is improbable are also successful. We even filmed a few celebrities, including Claude Meunier, who come to make unexpected and sometimes amusing appearances. But there is one essential ingredient missing. Yannicko’s kitchen : a good text.