Korean street fare and other foods at Esplanade's Studios season

Judging by the way theatremakers Geoff Sobelle and Jaha Koo drooled over the Peranakan cuisine they had during their brief stops in Singapore, the foodie Republic has offered them indelible gastronomic memories.

- Shawn Hoo

In August, they will get a chance to feed Singapore audiences their gastronomical and theatrical fare. As part of the Esplanade's The Studios season, Sobelle and Koo are serving up two interactive shows in the form of an elaborate dinner party and a Korean street stall respectively, with real food for select audience members.

In his show, Food, American actor Sobelle, who is skilled in magic, clowning and physical theatre, will play waiter to the audience around a banquet table and invite them to share their personal memories of the food they love.

"I'm drawn to subjects that are really so simple that they become almost overwhelmingly complicated," Sobelle says over a Zoom call from New York. Food plays at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre from Aug 6 to 10.

The meat lover had been on and off a vegetarian diet ever since a teenage encounter with headless fish in the market made him question his relationship with animals.

Now a vegetarian for environmental reasons—he raises his two kids so he confesses he can still be a "good guest" and eat meat on exceptional occasions.

His show will tackle serious ideas about topics like food production, although the actor says to expect levity and spectacle too. Just do not come hungry, he warns, as his show does not offer a full meal.