The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights

Hannah Doran‘s debut play and 2024 Papatango New Writing Prize-winning production of The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights invites us to experience the savage pursuit of the American Dream at almost any cost.

We are placed firmly in the modern-day meat-cutting room of a struggling century-old butcher shop, Caferelli & Sons, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, and the play centres around the five staff members working there who are struggling to make their way in an environment of competition, tension, friendship, loyalty and eventual betrayal.

Watching as Billy (Ash Hunter), an ex-con, pits his workmates against each other is like watching a craftsman build a house of cards, only to watch it come crashing down, with everyone losing. His cries of frustration at never having been given a chance go against the true narrative of a man who expects to be given whatever he wants without working for it and at whatever cost. The sense of entitlement and victimhood is horribly recognisable and deeply troubling.

Billy is competing with JD (Marcello Cruz) for the coveted position of a junior cutter, under the tutelage of the senior cutter David (Eugene McCoy), who turns out to be the secretive master manipulator of this story. They all work for straight-talking but caring owner Paula (Jackie Clune), who takes the remnants of society that nobody else wants and gives them a second chance and the opportunity to improve their lot in life. She is put in the unenviable position of having to choose who to keep out of the two apprentices in a time of low trade and frightening financial hardship but ends up with the choice being taken out of her hands over the course of one very disturbing night shift. An end result that threatens a permanent closure to her long-running family business and the loss of jobs for all five staff members.

There is a lovely gentleness brought to the story in the burgeoning relationship between T (Mithra Malek), the new girl on the scene (and Billy’s much maligned and manipulated cousin), and the awkward but sweet JD. Romeo and Juliet, perhaps not, but a tragedy in the making, nonetheless.

The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights is an exemplary ensemble piece, but special mention goes to Marcello Cruz and Eugene McCoy for their superbly nuanced storytelling.

The play’s soundtrack is all about deep, funky Latino beats and is emphasised by the continual cutting and chopping of meat by the butchers on stage. The rhythm, which runs through the entire production, is sultry and hypnotic, and you can’t help but find yourself tapping your feet or chair dancing at various points during the 2 hours and 15 minutes running time.

The play is very socially relevant and focuses on subjects, such as immigration, identity, employment politics, that we are all aware of from the news on television and in the papers at the moment. It doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the table as such but reminds us that what’s going on in the States with their hugely divisive anti-immigration policies isn’t so far removed from what’s currently happening on our own shores.

The production fits beautifully into the intimate and industrial setting of the Park Theatre, inviting the audience to be an intrinsic part of the play as opposed to a distant viewer. The stage is set very simply with two central, large metal tables and a few hanging cuts of meat, and not much more, but with great effect, transporting the audience the instant they walk into the auditorium.

The only minor downside is a slightly too long and slow-moving first half, but the tension, pace and movement of the second half more than made up for this.

Watching The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights‘ portrayal of human weakness and the reveal of brutal truths and a heartbreaking lack of loyalty serves to remind us that humans are capable of truly breathtaking acts of deceit and betrayal in an attempt to get ahead at any cost.