THEATRE REVIEW: The Best Café in the World
19.07.2022 at Basement Theatre
I’m usually pretty on the fence about theatre and film that use the pandemic as a jumping off point. I find that it never really hits the satire mark and just becomes an empty rant about how the pandemic sucks. The Best Café in the World changed my mind about this. This performance has a unique take on the pandemic and focuses on the people, rather than the situation.
The Best Café in the World is set in a world where the pandemic is a zombie apocalypse. But rather than watching sad people in Mad Max clothes slash up zombies, we are watching a barista: Jayden is serving up coffee to the remaining survivors in Auckland. In the opening scene, we have Brett, a cafe regular, dressed in generic apocalyptic gear (tattered scarf, lots of brown layers and combat boots), standing right opposite Jayden, dressed in classic barista gear (shorts, button up, apron). If this wasn’t already funny enough, the characters then proceed to have a hilarious conversation about Brett’s outfit. The juxtaposition of the zombie apocalypse and the bid for normalcy is so absurd, I was laughing in the first couple of seconds. Director, Daniel Nisbet has a great eye for visual humour as well.
The Best Café in the World perfectly captures the obnoxious adaptability and adaptable obnoxiousness of humans. With zombies rampant outside, the radio station is debating whether cats are better than dogs. With the generator flickering on and off, Jayden and his friends dance around the topic of death, trauma and fear with jokes and banter. I actually felt empathy for the characters, thinking back to the pandemic memes that people were sharing in the first lockdown. Even in life or death situations, humans crave connection and normalcy, trying desperately to maintain a familiar existence.
The Best Café in the World perfectly captures the obnoxious adaptability and the adaptable obnoxiousness of humans
Photo by John Rata
The Best Café in the World is more than a funny pandemic satire. It’s about people doing their best to forget that the world is on fire, talking about rubbish and dreaming about things that don’t matter. But they always matter. The secret fears, obsessions and dreams of humans remain in catastrophic events. I loved this play because it didn’t focus on the situation, it focussed on the people. What made The Best Café in the World unique was the fact it was an introspective character study set against the backdrop of a pandemic. We never saw the exaggerated apocalyptic wasteland: we saw the cafe. This wasn’t about the pandemic, this was about people and our small, nonsensical efforts to make sense of the world around us.
Nisbet’s film background really shone through in both his writing and directing. The characters talk over each other in a way that isn’t often done in theatre - the classic “listen and react” is overtaken with fast-paced banter. The scriptwriting is never meandering or stagnant, and it was great to see character writing, rather than plot writing. Also, Nisbet has a real sense of where to place beats in the script: The culmination of action is perfectly timed with the culmination of emotion.
Photo by John Rata
Furthermore, the distinction between memory and present is very well done. Time shifts can often be clumsy and disrupt the flow of narration, but Nisbet uses a gentle change in lights and sound to signal a different time period. Nisbet’s enthusiasm to play with different stage techniques made for a really interesting style. With simultaneous events staged in an almost jump-cut style and some great slow motion work, Nisbet achieves a unique blend of film and theatre.
The actors all maintained a tight ensemble, but their performances never blurred into one another. Each actor performed a distinct character with individual thoughts, dreams and memories. The acting, coupled with Nisbet’s writing, brought a real complexity to each character. Jehangir Homavazir did an impeccable job of playing Jayden. He maintained an optimistic exterior that hid a reality of pain and hurt. Jehangir’s banter was always on the verge of a mental breakdown and his quirks were always on the verge of painful obsession. It was a truly tender performance that was hilarious and poignant all at once.
The acting, coupled with Nisbet’s writing, brought a real complexity to each character
The Best Café in the World is a disarmingly realistic performance set against the backdrop of a coffee shop in a zombie apocalypse. With a perfect blend of humour, absurdity and tenderness, this performance will hit you hard. You will laugh at some of the hilarious conversations, but also relate hard to the character’s efforts to maintain optimism in a time of fear and death. The Best Café in the World is a truthful and unique response to the pandemic.
You can book your tickets for The Best Café in the World here!
Photo by John Rata
Director: Daniel Nisbet
Cast: Jehangir Homavazir, Celine Dam, Muhammed Nasir, Karishma Grebneff, Bala Murali Shingade
Producer: Bala Murali Shingade
Presented by: Rocket Park Productions