Joshua Hinton’s A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen (or How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry) was a delicious family history. Alongside his brother Dominic, Hinton told a story about lineage, cultural connection, and searching for a sense of belonging while he cooked his grandmother Mehmeh’s chicken curry live onstage – the Cremorne Theatre has never smelled so good!
A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen was directed and designed by Merrigong Theatre Company Artistic Development Manager Leland Kean, with dramaturgy and additional writing by Merrigong Artistic Director and CEO (and Hinton’s father) Simon Hinton.
For much of the performance, Joshua Hinton stood behind a stainless-steel kitchen bench in the centre of the stage. Dominic Hinton, Joshua’s brother, was perched stage right, managing the sound and vision and bantering playfully with Joshua throughout.
On stage left, a curtained set of shelves held ingredients, photographs, and mementos – frequently, Hinton would draw back the curtain to retrieve something, only for a new image to be projected when he drew the curtain back across.
Projections also furnished the pantry shelves and many of the cooking implements. The kitchen became not only the stage but also the characters – spice bottles with photographs taped to them became relatives and friends, and geopolitics was illustrated by the measuring and pouring of ingredients alongside Hinton’s monologue. Live camera feeds made these whimsical reveals seamless and allowed the audience to see Hinton’s hands as he cooked.
The Sultan’s Kitchen is a well-known Brisbane restaurant in the suburb of Paddington, opened in the 80s and still run by Hinton’s family. The recognisable façade of the restaurant was projected behind him onstage and Hinton recalled his time working there as a teenager, including stints at the Woodford Folk Festival.
Mehmeh’s presence loomed large in the performance, beyond her curry recipe – recordings of her voice, chanting a prayer or gently chiding her grandson for worrying too much, were played as well as photographs of her as a girl and videos of her more recently, more than ninety years old.
In addition to family history and contemplations on belonging, Hinton shared fond memories of eating chicken curry several times a week in childhood, but recalls being singled out among other Australian kids because of his food, his skin, and his family. Delving into the complexity of cultural connections, the thread of his heritage continued to unspool from Iran and South Africa to India, Sri Lanka, England, Australia, and beyond.
As the piece progressed, Hinton’s reflections became more introspective. He mused on why his Mehmeh might have forgotten or omitted certain details of her life in telling stories to her grandchildren, spoke candidly about the death of his grandfather, and reflected on his experiences of grief, the anticipation of an ending, and a desire for control.
From persecution to privilege, airport security to primary school sleepovers, Hinton’s story travelled widely across themes and continents, with unexpected cameos from jazz virtuoso Dizzy Gillespie and the Royal Shakespeare Company, among others.
A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen finished with a song and a request to join Joshua and Dominic in the foyer to share a meal – each ticket included a portion of chicken (or vegetarian) curry. Hinton is an easy and generous storyteller, and the show was cosy and candid as he shared music, meals, and memories, making the audience feel at home.
A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen (or How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry) was performed at the Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, South Bank, from 16 – 21 September 2025
For further information, visit the Brisbane Festival website
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