À La Carte – The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)

About the show

A three-act window into the hospitality experience, where consumption, service and class collide.

Act I: Service Overture by Lucy Rossen & À La Carte Company. In the hyper-realistic world of the restaurant, we meet characters both strange and familiar getting ready for a night out at a Sydney fine-dining establishment.

Act II: In Fatty Liver by Morgan Owen. We meet Alex, a young professional waitress and Marcus, a powerful, yet warm man who is dining alone and invites, (no, insists) that Alex dine with him.

Act III: My Wedding Cheesemonger by Sophia Benjamin. The service descends to a dreamlike bacchanal, led by a bride telling a story of her tantalising wedding night…

Lucy Rossen

Lucy Rossen is a performer and director whose practice is driven by community and collaboration. She seeks to create work that connects artist and witness in both process and performance.

Currently working towards her MFA in Directing at NIDA, her directorial work includes We Forgive you Patina Pataznik by Jake Glanc and Olivia Macleod (MICF), DARLING BOY by Rupert Bevan (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sydney WorldPride & Dublin IGTF.) and assisting Sarah Goodes during her remount of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf by Edward Albee (GWB entertainment, Comedy Theatre, Melbourne).

While studying, Lucy directed scenes from Fireface by Marius Von Mayenburg (ACA and NIDA) and assisted on Spring Awakening, adapted and directed by Claudia Osborne.

Lucy has a passion for the specificity of screen work and has enjoyed directing music videos: NUMB for Alex The Astronaut and REAL! not everything is… for JUPiTA!

À La Carte is a collection of stories about modern hospitality.

Using a combination of devised work by the ensemble, a three-hander by Morgan Owen and a short story by Sophia Benjamin, we have set out to create a window into the restaurant world. A world that dances between the glorious experience of sharing food, wine and time with loved ones, and the grimy underbelly of the industry that makes indulgence possible.

I hope this work allows the audience to witness the co-existing chaos and order of the dining room from a distance, and then slowly become immersed in the world as the night goes on.

– Lucy Rossen

The space of À La Carte twists and turns at the whim of the performers. Glimmers of jewellery and silverware are at one moment enticing and then unnerving. Lighting mirrors the evolution of the restaurant’s dinner service, shifting from grounded and naturalistic to theatrical and surreal.

We begin with warm, ambient lighting that reflects the intimate environment of the bustling restaurant. As the service progresses, the lighting grows more dramatic, utilising sharp contrasts and dynamic colour shifts to capture mounting tension and chaos. This progression enhances the emotional arc of the show, immersing the audience in the heightened experience of the night. Sound intensifies this atmosphere, capturing the rhythmic flow of service, tension between characters, and the gradual shift from reality to a dream-like world.

The design of À La Carte highlights the murky boundaries between servitude and power, public and private and the real and unreal present in the hospitality industry.

– Leah Hall, Poppy Townsend, Jun Tung and Taylah Crouch

Explicit language, sexual content, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, partial nudity and haze effects.

Content advice subject to change.

Download À La Carte Company Sheet

The Company

CAST (in order of appearance)

Waiters:

Benji: Ari Tjandra

Charlie: Lilian Alejandra Valverde*

Shane: Jackson Hurwood*

Alex: Claudia Leon

Gregory: Leon Walshe*

Guests:

Julia Boyd*

Rupert Bevan*

Cameron Steven*

Anika Banerjee*

Matthew Heale*

Bride: Madeline Flood

Ruva Shoko*

Joel Beasley*

Kymberly Adams*

Flynn Barnard*

Marcus: Sam McGown

Writers: Lucy Rossen, Morgan Owen and Sophia Benjamin

Director: Lucy Rossen

Set, Props & Costume Designer: Leah Hall

Lighting Designer: Poppy Townsend

Sound Designer: Jun Tung

Video Designer: Taylah Crouch

Production Manager: Nicola Sinclair*

Stage Manager: Amelie McCarthy

Movement Choreographer: Gavin Robins**

Intimacy Consultant: Lucia Mastrantone*

Voice Coach: Raechyl French*

Construction Manager: Michael Fisher

Costume Supervisor: Raphaela Kuhn

Head Electrician: Jasmine Power

Special thanks to:

Mentors: Imara Savage and Carissa Licciardello (Directing), Peter Rubie & Steve Hendy (LX Design), Pádraig Ó Súilleabháin (Head LX), Michael Toisuta (Sound), Todd Eichorn (Stage Management) and Flynn Barnard (Music Composition).

Key

*Guest Artist
** NIDA Staff