Dinner is the Show: A Heartwarming Tale of Family, Heritage, and the Perfect One-Pot Curry

Stage to Plate: Audience Invited to Taste the Story in A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen (or How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry)

A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen transforms the theatre stage into a kitchen and the audience into dinner guests. Tender, humorous and deeply resonant, the work explores belonging, migration and identity while celebrating the way food connects us across continents, across generations, and across the theatre aisle.

Performed by theatre maker and singer-songwriter Josh Hinton, the work unfolds around a single pot of his grandmother’s cherished chicken curry, cooked live on stage. As spices crackle and aromas fill the theatre, a captivating family story simmers into life supported by live music and nostalgic emotions that we can all relate to, no matter where we’re from.

“Who I am, and who I’m becoming, is a reflection of all these people, memories and experiences. Along the journey of making the show, I’ve also realised that so many people in our Australian society share this experience of living between different cultures, not necessarily feeling like they totally belong in one.” Josh explains.

From the backstreets of Sri Lanka to a bustling city in India, from a schoolyard in Iran to a South African farm, and finally to his home in Wollongong, Hinton traces the threads of identity, belonging and love. The journey unfolds as both personal history and shared experience, revealing how memory, migration and family shape a sense of home.

But this is more than storytelling.

As the performance concludes, audience members are invited to taste the very dish that has been prepared before them, completing the journey from story to plate. In a rare and intimate theatrical gesture, the meal becomes the final act, transforming “dinner and a show” into dinner as the show.

“…the perfect recipe for a wonderful night out… this touching story of belonging and connecting with culture can’t be missed.” – The Scoop

The Art House Presents
A Merrigong Theatre Company production
A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen
(or How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry) 
by Joshua Hinton

Tue 21 Apr 8PM

Duration: 1 hour & 10 mins, no interval               

Recommended for ages 12+

Warning: contains descriptions of violence

Studio Show: General Admission Unassigned Seating

For Accessible and Wheelchair Bookings, please contact the Box Office.

Ticket: $35.00 | Concession: $30.00 | Encore Member: $25.00 | Under 30: $18.00

Includes a serving of the chicken curry dish upon exit.

Booking Link: A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen – The Art House