At one point in "The Food Show," the new and original production by the Neo-Futurists about the complexity of your average urban progressive's relationship with what they put in their mouths, the charming actor-writer Oliver Camacho cooks up a very nice piece of salmon, replete with a light and tasty pan sauce. Mmm.

Alas, the only person who got to taste Camacho's creation was the handsome and genial fellow in the audience selected by Camacho during his reminiscences and fantasies about cooking and dating. The lucky guy got the whole steak to take back to his seat. What, they don't have plastic forks at the Neo-Futurists?

Actually, the lack of any bite-size morsels for the punters in the seats is a serious critique of "The Food Show," a show with a great title and idea that implies rather more than it delivers, at this juncture. What the show needs is a way to take the personal experiences of the likable performers who, in the great Neo-Futurist tradition, are writing, performing and occasionally singing about themselves and help audience members add their own recollections and perceptions. Surely, igniting our communal sense of taste memory would help with that. You know, just a fork's worth? I mean, these guys already go to the trouble of asking if we have any dietary restrictions at the top of the show.

To its great credit, "The Food Show" is not interested in the culture of celebrity chefs or farmers markets or the hottest eatery or whatever, but the place that eating holds in our memory, especially its ability to calm our fears or remind us whence we came. Created by Dan Kerr-Hobert and Caitlin Stainken, it's an often poignant show about lunchboxes and pasta with cheese, about ethical arguments over meat and picky eaters and scary worries about kids' allergies. Smart performer-writers like Tif Harrison, Kyra Sims and Bilal Dardai, typically wry and wise here, remind us just how much food impacts our lives, both the comforts and the conflicts therein. They cook as home cooks and they talk as though they are in their own kitchens. There's comfort food for thought for sure. It's like the flip side of the Food Channel.

But the show is episodic each segment is built around one performer and one dish. That's a cool idea, too, in principle, but the overall arc needs far more attention if there's to be some actual dramatic tension. Unlike the Neo-Futurists regular and intimate Andersonville home, the space used for "The Food Show" is a huge, raw space in Avondale that comes with all kinds of unexplored possibilities for movement and staging and shared space.

There really is no reason to pen the audience in uncomfortable bleachers, too far away from the flames and the cheese and all the raw and cooked feelings.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Review: The Food Show (2.5 stars)

When: Through Sept. 2

Where: Next door to Metropolitan Brewing, 3031 N. Rockwell Ave.

Running time: 80 minutes

Tickets: $10-$25 at 773-275-5255 or neofuturists.org

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Food is memory in 'The Food Show,' so the Neos should let us share - Chicago Tribune