InterAct Theatre presents Will Snider's 'How to Use a Knife'

However, there's much more astonishment in this exciting drama focused on Chef George (Scott Greer), who receives a second chance from smarmy restauranteur Michael (Jered McLenigan) after an alcohol-and-drug-fueled collapse. The kitchen is a steaks-and-burgers joint, but Chef only knows one way to work: relentless perfectionism. "There's no fucking rule here except don't fuck up," he tells the employees. He earns their trust when he says of Michael, "What a fuckin' prick."

Big issues

That's a popular opinion in the kitchen. Carlos (J. Hernandez) gives a dead-eyed look when Michael calls him and Miguel (Angel Sigala) "my Mexicans." It’s priceless — and foreboding. These Guatemalan cooks spar with young busboy Jack (Trevor William Fayle), chattering in Spanish that needs no translation, especially when Jack retorts, "Stop talking about my sister!" Jack threatens to have them deported, which is no joke.

Stoic dishwasher "Steve" (Lindsay Smiling) offers a contrast to all the kitchen bombast and camaraderie. The hulking, older African man volunteers nothing and is ignored — but Chef sees something in him. "Why does Michael not know you speak English?" he asks.

Steve retorts, "He never asked."

Chef can't ignore Steve's mystery. "I need an ally," Chef says.

"I want to learn your skill," Steve replies. His first knife lesson becomes an intense conversation, punctuated by a single overhead light transforming the kitchen into a mysterious, private place.

"Everyone wants to be a good person," Chef says, "but what do you do when you know you're a bad person?"

Dangerous secrets

The kitchen at night is a very different place — especially when the talkers wield sharp blades. While Chef is forthcoming about his addiction, he has deeper secrets. Steve agrees to help him cope with his guilt, and has some of his own. Their friendship threatens the others, though, who have theories and suspicions about Steve. When driven immigration officer Kim (Maria Konstantinidis) arrives and is not looking for Hispanics, Chef starts putting together the pieces.

We're with Chef, assembling the story Steve's attempt to hide and wrangling with the ethical issues raised. For what can we forgive ourselves? What's unforgiveable — in others, and in ourselves?

How to Use a Knife gives an explosively taut 100-minute thrill ride, driven by the uneasy balance of Greer's mercurial self-hating addict and Smiling's mysterious and dangerous counterpoint. Snider's script features not only the exciting rat-a-tat of kitchen repartee and labor but makes each character's concerns complex and believable. Director Seth Rozin's expertly paced production builds the play's larger questions to a shocking finale that leaves us breathless. See it.