eating skit. tips.?

Question

im doing a skit with 3 other people for my theatre class,.
its difficult because we cant use any props. We have to use "invisible props" and its preety hard to manage those, esp because they're not really there.
also, we have to make it clear what we are eating. (ie: spagghetti, wine ect.)

i need suggestions on:
1. how to ACT when at the dinner-table,
2. how to manage "invisible" props, what items of food to choose, what drinks,
3. and little details to avoid that might throw people in the audience off.

Thanks! :]

i had to make it up.
so, i can change things around and add stuff to it, if i need or want to.

Answer 1

If the point is to allow the audience to know what you are eating, then eating something distinctive would be a good idea. For example, you could use invisible chopsticks instead of a fork and spoon for chinese food or eat fried chicken with your fingers. (finger lickin' good) Same with drinks, try to think of something that will look different. Is the drink hot? You would blow on it before drinking it. Maybe pick a marshmallow off the top?

I think that the key is to start noticing what people look like while they eat. Try eating in front of a mirror to see what you look like might be helpful also. Sounds like a fun assignment! Enjoy! :)

Answer 2

Do you have the opportunity to go anywhere and watch people eat? Even a cafeteria? I always think people are being most themselves when they are eating or in the bathroom -- thank goodness your class is doing eating.

Notice how some people will hold their forks down and lean forward over their plates -- others will use utensils or glasses to make gestures with. As other people join, people adjust their plates, or in a restaurant, they move them to make way for food.

As was said, yes, go for distinctive food. Other possibilities might be: shish-kebab (especially if you have to put out the fire first), or pizza (and the way some people shake a ton of parmesan on it, how they pull a single slice off with all the cheese clinging to it, how they fold a slice, and how they deal with the crust afterward), or soup served in a "bread bowl"

Just Act however your character is supposed to be in the circumstances -- is it a piece that's already written or do you have to make it up? Dealing with the food should be secondary to the characters and their relationship.