Picture dining at a restaurant where your tarte tartin comes with a jiggle of the hip, where ratatouille might be served alongside a round of applause, where stand up comics snack on late arrivals and early leeks for dinner. Imagine being encouraged to eavesdrop shamelessly on the drama unfolding at the next table, a cheerful maître d', between refreshing your wine glass and bringing out the cheese course, taking his place at a piano in the corner.
If this sounds like something out of a movie or play, that’s because it is – and you’re invited to eat as well as participate. Dinner for Pricks, written and directed by Dhruv Sachdeva (who you might remember from The Character of a Happy Life) and slated to open in the last week of July, is a combination of a restaurant and theatrical performance for which Humour Me, an entertainment company that works with various performance artists on theatrical productions, is setting up a pop-up French restaurant in a Delhi five star hotel (they won’t reveal which one yet). This will be populated not just by chefs but also actors, singers and dancers who will double up as planted “guests” and wait staff, and carry out a fun performance while you eat.
Amusing Bouche
A ticket (200 of the 250 available are already booked, so score one soon!) buys you a reservation at the abovementioned pop-up French restaurant called Le Cigare Volant, wine and hors d'oeuvres, and an interactive performance by the troupe/ wait staff/ audience.
Despite its transitory nature, this restaurant is planned as a swanky affair, all deep couches and red carpets, with elaborate lighting and music from a “top secret” guy with over 300 Broadway shows under his belt. Sounds delish!
Humour Me plans to take this show on the road for an all India tour after its Delhi run is done, and follow it up with two more supper theatre productions, Jack and Coke and Waiting on the World to Change.
On a role
Humour Me was founded by Dhruv Sachdeva and Ashray Sachdeva, who decided a few months ago that he had had quite enough of his corporate stints, first with Deutsche Bank in London and Bangalore, and then The Royal Bank of Scotland. Apart from organising interactive plays, Humour Me also offers other services, including team building and communication workshops for corporates and fun party solutions – dance, music, singing actors – at your venue of choice (no Russian brothels or nudist beaches, we checked).
But it’s the upcoming food-meets-acting performances we’re most excited about. Let’s just hope they don’t choke.
Getting there: Visit www.humourme.in or view their Facebook page here, Dinner for Pricks priced at Rs. 2000 per person.
