Fully Committed, Menier Chocolate Factory

It was the show that made UK critics sit up and pay attention to experimental venue Menier Chocolate Factory, with an ultra successful UK premiere in 2004 that led to a West End transfer. Now, to mark the theatre's 10th year, Fully Committed returns to its stage.

The comedy was an instant hit when it premiered in New York, and was hailed one the ten best shows of 2000 by Time magazine. Playwright Becky Mode drew on her own experience as a young creative making ends meet in Manhattan with jobs in the hospitality industry -- though her subsequent success writing for both stage and screen has made such odd jobs a distant memory. 

The high octane script sees aspiring actor Sam in the utterly unglamorous underbelly of the swankiest restaurant in town. Manning the reservations line, he has to negotiate tirades of wannabes, have-a-goes and bonafide big names, all of whom are desperate to get a table. Actor cum comedian Kevin Bisphop, known for his eponymous Channel Four sketch show is tornado of talent as Sam. The fast-paced intensity of The Kevin Bishop Show, where over 40 skits were performed in 20 minutes, is good training for a one-man show that demands shifting between 39 different characters.

Along with marking the Menier's decade anniversary, the show also comes at a particularly topical time. With the explosion of celebrity infested restaurants such as Chiltern Firehouse, Fully Committed is an ever-relevant and wonderfully raucous send up of the fine-dining industry.