An English breakfast, a sound installation, a live performance. The full English breakfast was given a Citizenship Test as Mem Morrison returnes to his roots to explore the cultural connotations of the traditional greasy spoon café.
Leftovers is a development of Mem’s earlier piece, Fuel, created for Home, London, 2004. For Fuel, Mem invited his family to help him create a performance in a domestic kitchen involving traditional Turkish Cypriot cooking and hospitality.
Fuel was an intimate encounter with Mem and his family. Leftovers moved his culinary and cultural concerns out onto the High Street to un-cover an English café culture that has been assimilated and imperceptibly changed by generations of Turkish Cypriot families.
Leftovers explored culture and cultural difference and how this is expressed through food. It’s a gentle exploration of how cultures meet and mingle, eat, socialise and influence each other.
Leftovers has also been developed as a performance, sound and menu installation for greasy spoon cafes in association with Kahve Society. Material was collected as part of an audio project with Turkish Cypriot café owners in London, which was performed at Mayfest, Bristol 2008.
“delicate and involving… a gentle, unassuming show that has plenty to say.”
The Guardian Guide
Commissioned and produced by Chelsea Theatre, London. Commissioned by NOW as part of the NOW Programme 2006, financially supported by Nottingham City Council and Arts Council England.