Etiquette and Vitriol: The Food Chain and Other Plays

by Nicky Silver

The first play collection by a young master of razor-sharp wit and black humor.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre

300 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2012

Reviews

[Buck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicky Silver is clearly very talented. These plays are transgressive and clever, bound by many shared themes and archetypes. But reading them in succession definitely made the similarities feel more like a crutch.

[Bronte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't really decide if this contains spoilers - so read with caution!!! You may be someone who wants to know nothing about the book before reading it. I don't personally think this gives anything away really.


I enjoyed "The Food Chain" - the first play in the book - although it was definitely bizarre. It was very funny and entertaining.

Then I read "Fat Men in Skirts" which was a mistake. Cannibalism, incest, rape - I did not find it funny, although it's supposed to be and I think people with a darker (much darker) sense of humor would enjoy it. It was kind of funny in the beginning but eventually I was just horrified and wasn't able to enjoy any kind of sarcasm or humor that was hidden in the insane horror. I should have seen it coming and stopped - but unfortunately I didn't.

Again, stupidly I read "Pterodactyls" next (Why was I subjecting myself to this after having suffered the last play? My guess is that I was in shock). I didn't find it as bad as "Fat Men in Skirts" but I did think it was worse than "The Food Chain." This play contained insanity, suicide, sexual abuse within family, (a death which I didn't understand - suicide or murder? By that point I didn't really care.) - needless to say, I didn't much enjoy this one either.

And in every play there is lots of sex. LOTS of it. Not the thrilling, romantic kind, but the dirty, disturbing, uncomfortable kind.

I did not read the 4th play. So maybe I'm not allowed to say that I read this book (it's just easier than finder each play and writing separate reviews). You may not believe me after this review, but I understand that these plays are well written. I can tell, through the moroseness and freakishness, that he is trying to make an artistic point and that he's a good writer. I just personally find it much too disturbing and not matching my taste at all and I'm just warning those of you out there who might be like me. Just go for reading "The Food Chain."

[Colie! · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I learned from this book... well, like Chekhov and Williams, Nicky Silver has his stock characters who, if you nail them, you could easily recreate an improvised version of his plays. Get a fat person, thin person, oversexed aged person, oversexed gay person, shake em all up with a pile of neuroses and then oversex everyone, pepper in snarky, snappy dialogue et le voila!

Yeah, it's OK. I would like one of these plays, but reading all of them at once was a little exhausting. He's very good, but really. Also, it's hard to be active when every enormous monologue is all retelling a story. C'mon.

[Heidi Franke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first experience reading Nicky Silver's plays, and definitely saw similarities will all four of theses in term of character types, detailed sex descriptions (sometimes superfluous, I thought), suicide, and family dynamics. I liked Fat Men in Skirts and Pterodactyl the most, as I felt that they actually had something to say.

Overall, I didn't think they were exceptional, but I would be engaged as an audience member, and these roles would be a blast as an actor.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

In college, I took a beginning acting class. One assignment asked us to pick a character from a play that was as far as possible from ourselves, and to act out their monologue.

I picked a male character from The Food Chain. He was something like 400 pounds, lazy, and whiny.

I did a hell of a job, if I do say so myself.

The play still stays with me, and makes me shudder.

[Tom Cork · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pterodactyls is a beautiful play--no question. The balance of wit and pain is amazing, and Silver really ties together a bunch of disparate elements to create a disturbing parody of the 'modern American family.'

The Food Chain is an easier read--not as deep, but still hilarious. If you've ever chased after someone who seemed oblivious (story of my life), then this one's for you.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicky Silver's style of absurdity and emphasis on the grotesque is not really my thing, which is why I only gave this collection three stars. There is quite a lot going on behind the incest (good God, there is a lot), and the patricide, and the cannibalism. I just prefer my drama with less of that stuff. He's truly original and these plays are probably insane to see staged.

[Laura Ferrari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pterodactyls: depressing, very funny

[Maggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess I didn't get the point of all the horribly dysfunctional characters in uncomfortable situations...

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

With all fondness, Nicky Silver is a sick, sick man. Food Chain made me snort diet coke out my nose...thankfully I was reading a copy that belonged to someong else.

[Rolls · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pterodactyls," "The Food Chain," and "Fat Man in Skirts" are twisted, wrong and funny as hell!

[Cory Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hysterical. Bawdy. Great monologues for women and queer men.