'Eating Their Words' Teams Up Chefs and Writers to Reinvent Dinner Theater

Eating Their Words, reinventing the concept of "dinner theater" by wedding a seasoned chef with prominent playwrights for an integrated evening of new cuisine and new plays, adds Sam Mason's Tailor to its event line-up, Monday November 3rd.  Chef Mason will be collaborating with playwrights Beau Willimon and Sarah Treem, and a third, to be announced. Willimon's play, Farragut North, will receive its world premiere this November at the Atlantic Theater and is currently being adapted as a feature film for Warner Brothers.  Sarah Treem's credits include A Feminine Ending at Playwrights Horizons.  She is a producer on HBO's "In Treatment".   Sam Mason, chef and partner of the acclaimed Tailor, is known for creatively combining sweet and savory flavors in his unique and playful dishes.  Artistic Director and Eating Their Words founder, Marlo Hunter, will direct the premieres.  Tickets for "The Tailor Event" will be available mid-September through www.eatingtheirwords.com.  Tickets for the upcoming "Country Event" on September 16th are currently available.

A culinary treat, a cultural fix, and a supper-club social, the events offer attendees the World Premiere of three new plays written explicitly for their evening, coupled with the inherent theatricality of a one-of-a-kind meal inspired by the writers' work. The event's forum is the chef's restaurant.  The intimate evening delivers these plays, set at a dinner table, an arm's length away from audience members.  Attendees surround the performance table, voyeuristically overhearing a "conversation" at a neighboring table.  Following each play, set over a meal, the audience indulges in the course they just watched the actors experience.  Each course was created by the chef after reading and interpreting the playwrights' scripts.

The innovative company launched in March of 2008 at The Tasting Room, and followed with a June event at the iconic Peacock Alley, located in the Waldorf = Astoria.  It is the only theatrical or culinary event of its kind.

Eating Their Words' upcoming "Country Event" piques the palate on Tuesday, September 16th, at 7pm.  Under the theme "Lawless Cuisine", the evening will be staged on a candlelit private balcony in the Michelin-starred Country restaurant's exquisite dining room.  The unique evening features Executive Chef Willis Loughhead's original food and wine pairing, inspired by the work of collaborating playwrights Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men, Reasons to Be Pretty), Brooke Berman (A Perfect Couple, Hunting and Gathering), and Steven Levenson (The Language of Trees at The Roundabout Underground this fall). The evening features performances by Drama Desk Award winner Marylouise Burke (Fuddy Meers, Sideways), Broadway veteran Victor Slezak (The Graduate, Suddenly Last Summer), and acclaimed actors Patch Darragh (Our Town, Crimes of the Heart), and Maria Dizzia (Eurydice, Drunken City).  Artistic Director and Eating Their Words founder, Marlo Hunter (Williamstown, Long Wharf, Ensemble Studio Theatre), directs.

The Country Event's program includes the World Premieres "That" by Steven Levenson, "Things That Used to Be Alive" by Brooke Berman, and "The Furies" by Neil LaBute.  The plays inspired a menu by Willis Loughhead that includes seared tenderloin of beef with sauce choron, roasted fingerling potatoes, and asparagus, and lobster with warm potato and mussel salad, braised leek vinaigrette, and grilled corn.

Loughhead, a graduate of Boston University, honed his culinary skills through extensive travel and cultural immersion in North Africa and Asia. Prior to joining Geoffrey Zakarian at Country, Loughhead oversaw culinary operations at Andre Balasz's Sunset Beach, and served as Chef de Cuisine at The Modern.

The Country Event, originally slated for July 21, 2008, was moved to September 16th due to scheduling conflicts.

A one-woman start-up, Eating Their Words was founded by Artistic Director and Manhattan-based director and choreographer, Marlo Hunter, to explore the relationship between playwright and chef.  The Princeton graduate launched the company to see whether she could build a business solely upon the things she loves most.  The company will feature new plays and original menus at restaurants of note in and around Manhattan, monthly.  The company also creates private events for companies and individuals who are looking for a unique, high-end event concept.

Tickets for the September 16th event ($295) are limited and can be purchased through the Eating Their Words website at www.eatingtheirwords.com.   VIP tickets ($325) ensure that attendees will be seated with a playwright or actor throughout the evening.

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