Is it theatre? Is it a dining club? Who cares?
“We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink, for dining alone is leading the life of a lion or wolf” - Epicurus
Taking Greek philosopher Epicurus as their main ingredient, Unai Lopez de Armentia and Leo Kay explore the nature of large familial gatherings: moments that exist in the midst of urban isolation actively opposing it, if only for a short time. They want to find out why we don't all meet up any more, why Christmases are smaller and why holidays tend to be a nuclear family affair, why dining clubs are taking off and why Come Dine With Me is such a freak show (I added that last one).
So they've asked the audience for their show, Only Wolves and Lions, to bring with them a raw vegetarian-friendly ingredient and when 18 of us arrive with fresh produce in tow, they ask us to come up with recipes to share with the group. After a few toasts and other rituals - some to break the ice, some that set a light but philosophical tone and some that help the two hosts synchronise with a little theatricality - they let us cook!
Provided with gas hobs, utensils and each other, we make salads, stews, vegi-burgers and canapes, we eat rice and bread and watermelon and someone impressively manages to put together a dessert. We drink and feast before we talk economics, technology, social practices.
The discussion is inspired by Unai who tells us about a childhood memory of a loud, happy holiday feast where the men drink and entertain while the women cook and leave the kids to get away murder. Other guests chime in with tales from their own childhoods, some celebrate the feat of pulling off such a event and lament the waning presence of those events in our lives. Some blame Facebook: if you already know what's going on in someone's life, is there still an urge to physically spend time with them, asks one guest. Others look to finance and the employment systems in place and a society that no longer needs to ask its neighbours for a cup of sugar thanks to the perhaps overly convenient Tescos down the road.
Chatting with the show's creators like this reminds us that Only Wolves and Lions is already a theatre event with no clear audience. Although they created this piece, Leo and Unai get a show as they watch what happens when you bring strangers together to create a meal. In turn, we get a directed but fluid show that makes us think about ourselves. For me they reveal the enduring nature of the people who put on these big meals, especially the big family gatherings that Unai describes. It's on these more traditional occasions that often the women cook, serve and clear. But it reminds me also of the people who make efforts to keep in contact despite distance and time, despite opposing schedules and changing priorities.
The show also points out that while the economics and technology of our currently isolated urban existence is certainly a logical way of looking at things, it's hard to measure the quality of presence that you feel when you're physically with people you genuinely care about (or even strangers in this case). What I question about our memories of happy family gatherings is that sincerity. How much of a chore is it really? And how much does it require the rarely reciprocated work of grafters behind the scenes? How many of us would have helped with the collective cleaning were we not in a theatre? How much are we all performing here?
I leave still not entirely sure if I've been to a theatre show or a dining club but I don't really care. Only Wolves and Lions is a beautifully naturalistic way for an audience to come together on the same plain as the “performers” Unai and Leo, who make an effort to keep the performing to a minimum. My only criticism, if you can call it that, is that we fall into a pattern that they could have challenged. We eat first, talk later and there's not a lot of time for this (despite impressive efforts to keep the cooking time to 45 mins we run over). The 3.5 hour show flies by and it could be longer so that we're as comfortable talking to each other as we are eating with each other rather than everyone putting down their knives and forks (without being told to) to listen to Unai's story. Nonetheless, their main feat is to distract us with the fun of being in each other's company, from how urgent a conversation we're having. 
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