Masticate

Tweet

Masticate is an original play by Madison Fargo (Tiny Dead Things, WOMB) and directed by Kristen Kelso (The Story of My Life) about a struggling eatery and the lives of its proprietors. Co-owners Tom and Rachel – played by Jenna Janet (Singfeld, In Love With the Arrow Collar Man) and Matthew Hays (Good Samaritans, Bananas) respectively – deal with financial stress and marital strife, while waitress Maya – played by Maya Claridge (Open Casket, Final Girl) tries to come out of her shell. Masticate has some great moments, but overall leaves a lot to be desired. The play follows the staff of an embattled restaurant as they navigate personal problems.

The directing is weaker than it could’ve been. The blocking is quite flat, even when it does make full use of the space. In particular, the restaurant scenes, meant to be so busy and manic, are oddly lifeless. Despite the well-done set by Arkadia Theatre Company, it often feels as though the characters are wandering around an empty space, with little tying them to the actual scene or setting. Furthermore, Fargo’s script leans heavily on monologues, and the staging is such that other characters rarely react during these sequences, making them feel overly-long and drawn out. On the positive side, however, Fargo’s characters are mostly quite strong – Rachel is an excellently-written character, Brandon is decent comic relief, and Kimberly and Joni are both given a good amount of depth. The performances Kelso gets out of these actors in particular are also quite excellent.

Janet is the highlight of the show, giving an excellent performance as the overly-stressed Rachel. She expertly portrays the character’s inner thoughts, which are often quite different from her spoken words, as she’s under immense pressure from work, her pregnancy, and family troubles.

However, given that most of the show’s conflict revolves around her, one wishes she was front and center more often. Claridge gives quite a convincing performance, but Maya is simply under-written for the amount of attention the script gives her. She’s meant to be terminally shy and repressed, but the result is that she’s given little interiority, acting as merely a guilt-stricken springboard for the other, more interesting characters.

Tom, meanwhile, has the opposite problem. Tom’s affair with Maya is a major plot point, but Hays’ performance is quite lacking. He displays the character’s rage quite well, but his softer moments come across as terribly insincere.

Khalil Crawford (he/they) (Colder By the Water, Good Samaritans) has a small but memorable role as Louis, delivering two winding monologues – the latter of which is one of the better scenes in the show. However, the former, in which they monologue at length towards Maya is a bit dull – given that Louis is absent for much of the time, it seems a missed opportunity to give Maya something to do during the scene. Crawford’s performance, however, is not to blame. They are fantastic to watch on stage, and one almost wishes their character had more scenes in the play.

Rounding out the supporting cast are Christopher DeSantis (The Ben Shapiro Project, Twelfth Night) as Brandon the line cook, Olivia Murphy (The Tempest) and Isabel Bustamante (they/she) as Kimberly and Joni, the other two waitresses. Bustamante gives their character some real flair, with Joni strutting around in platform boots the entire show. DeSantis and Murphy, meanwhile, give an adorable goofiness to Brandon and Kimberly’s relationship, as they reminisce about childhood and talk about astrology.

The lighting design (lighting designer Dylan Villaverde-Martinez) is kept fairly simple, mimicking the harsh fluorescents of a restaurant. The costume design (costume designer Niqo Torrez, they/them) is quite thoughtful, with little accessories for several characters that subtly tell a lot about their personalities (Joni, for example, wears a lot of rings).

Despite the show’s flaws, its climax is its saving grace. Every conflict is brought out into the open during a particularly busy night for the restaurant, with secrets spilling out in between karaoke night (including an incredibly fun rendition of “Anything Goes” from Isabel Bustamante) at the restaurant, a heat wave, and every character’s poor decisions. Things feel appropriately chaotic, Janet and Claridge put in excellent performances as their characters try to shove down their emotions, and the surprise reappearance of Louis puts a nice bow on everything. The show gets off to a rocky start, but the climactic finale is a real bright spot.

Masticate (through August 23, 2026)

Out of Order Collective

Steve and Marie Sgouros Theatre at The Players Theater Loft, 115 MacDougal Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit https://theaterforthenewcity.net/shows/flo/

Running time: 90 minutes without an intermission