At a staged workshop reading during Climate Week NYC, the new play “Catalyst Coffee” pulled attendees behind the coffee shop counter and into the high-stakes world of a barista union campaign.
The script, presented by Food Tank for a special invitation-only event on Sept. 23, was written by Bernard Pollack with dramaturgy by Elena Morris.
“Catalyst Coffee” pulls back the curtain on the nuanced realities of worker organizing, corporate and legal tactics used to oppose unionization drives, and the deeply personal stories behind people’s choices to support or oppose the formation of a union. And it’s immersive: Everyone in the audience is a barista and gets to participate in the climactic union vote from their seats, which affects the play’s final minutes—and the characters’ futures.
“(Characters) on both sides individualize these arguments and make them about themselves when, really, it’s much bigger than that,” Forbes journalist Chloe Sorvino said during a post-show talkback discussion. “That individual versus the collective, seeing how that tension played out was really powerful.”
The cast for the staged reading included accomplished Broadway, theatrical, television, and film actors Stacey Sargeant, Kalyne Coleman, Keshav Molidar, Erin Neufer, Alex Morf, Brooks Brantly, and Lakisha May. May also directed the reading, which received a standing ovation.
For Sorvino’s book “Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat,” she conducted deep research into meatpacking labor issues, and she shared reflections during the talkback.
“These unions are really keeping people safe and protected in ways no one else is,” Sorvino says. “There’s really a human cost to all that we eat. These workers need to be protected, and I’m really glad we can experience that in a way that sheds light on the humanity.”
Throughout Food Tank’s programming at Climate Week NYC, the arts have taken center stage in discussions of food and environmental justice. “Catalyst Coffee” was named “one of the best new shows of 2024” by The Arts Fuse.
Food Tank’s first original theatrical production, called “WeCameToDance,” featured original music by Grammy-nominated Ghanaian artist Rocky Dawuni, Broadway artist-created dance, language consulting by “Game of Thrones” linguist David J. Peterson, and choreography production in partnership with award-winning House of Jack Studio in Leith, Edinburgh. The show debuted for a sold-out run at the 2021 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was featured in the New York Times and BBC and performed live on Good Morning Britain.
During the Sept. 23 Climate Week NYC reading of “Catalyst Coffee,” a majority of the ‘barista’ audience members voted in support of the union, making the characters’ organizing efforts successful within the context of the play.
“I was blown away by the voting at the end,” said May, also a Broadway and TV actress and food justice advocate, during the post-reading talkback discussion. “I love being an artist because I get to live in the questions and explore different sides that I wouldn’t necessarily explore. Great works of art allow us to see the breadth of our humanity.”
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Photo by Ryan Rose for Food Tank.
