Review: Lunch's Sandwich, Starring Smoked Turkey, Was a Delight

Thanks to an All Star Cast of Ingredients

Today’s production of Sandwich put on at Lunch was a soaring delight. It revealed the subtleties possible with a well-balanced cast of ingredients and reminded us that ‘most lavish’ does not always equal ‘best’. From the get-go, the underlying message behind Sandwich was clearly to be filling. But it never felt overbearing or heavy handed, save for a brief unnecessary monologue delivered by Bread that felt a bit too on the nose when it should have remained on the tip of the tongue. The staging of Sandwich was fittingly spare, limiting itself to saran wrap that was eventually used as a plate and a napkin. The pre-Sandwich note from mom was well-written and a nice touch.

Leading the ensemble cast was veteran of the fridge Oscar Meyer Smoked Turkey—known for its breakout role as a car snack during a short road trip to visit my brother, its subsequent work alongside mayonnaise in a few sandwiches last month, and most notably its leading role in last week’s slim-pickens Dinner after a tough workday. Turkey was not necessarily the freshest choice, but it was a choice that paid off thanks to the turkey not smelling too funky yet, and therefore letting the talents of the rest of the cast shine through.

A perfect complement to turkey’s leading-man bravado was the decision to split the role of Cheese between the remaining Sliced Sharp Cheddar and the Kraft Shredded Mexican Cheese leftover from when we wanted to make pizza but then just decided to order in instead. Some of the Shredded Mexican Cheese stuck around afterwards for an engaging post show one-on-one.

The choice to cast Tomato Paste in the role of Tomato was certainly a misstep, and contributed to overcrowding within the paste ensemble—Hummus and Mustard were stepping on each other’s toes at times. It was also unclear what role the Hot Sauce, Olive Juice, and Vinegar were supposed to be playing, especially considering they really dampened the impact of a mostly stellar performance by multi-talented 12-Grain Bread. However, these background oversights ultimately proved helpful, covering up a few missteps by other leading players, like the weak casting choice of Arugula as Leafy Green, whose performance often felt slightly wilted and overly bitter.

Sometimes productions at Lunch are enmeshed in the rich traditions previously established at Dinner. Other times Lunch puts on truly stand-alone affairs, unencumbered by what has come before. Still other times Lunch is born from an older tradition, a tradition defined by the very things that have been absent from Dinner. These are the elephants in the fridge that seemed like a decent purchase 1 month, 2 months, or 3 months prior. As options run out, these proverbial elephants are finally invited to come out to the stage. This final category is the riskiest. It can be hit or miss. It’s the category in which today’s production of Sandwich mostly falls. Fortunately, it was a bona fide delight.