20/11
Our Love Written by Al Hazan Performed by The Starr Sisters
Tale
In the heart of a bustling Times Square kitchen, dreams and desperation collide as each of the staff chases the elusive American Dream. Black and white comic tragedy or tragic comedy about a variety of people who are drawn like moths to a flame to work in the kitchen of a famous restaurant in New York’s Times Square.
But what could be worse?
The working conditions are disgusting, the bosses are manipulative and threatening, and most of the kitchen staff are illegal immigrants from places where the standard of living is considered worse than in the United States. They work under constant pressure, they are almost always tense and stressed, they are always shouted at, humiliated and even accused of crimes they did not commit.
The central characters, a local waitress and a Mexican chef, bothered me more than the others; and they start a love story of sorts and hell knows where it will end
There’s also humor, lots of noise, sporadic bouts of violence, dream sharing, some flirting with consequences, multiple languages (and multiple misunderstandings), plenty of food and drink, very tight schedules, obscene jokes, and a ray of hope for everyone. The main theme, I think, is how overrated the Times Square place is – the people of Cocina experience so much suffering and abuse there, and they only came there in the hope of a better life, in the hope of the American dream.
But is this the better life?
Granted, it’s not the lowest of the low and most people seem to get by, but they, like everyone else, definitely deserve more than what this overrated Times Square location has to offer.