What happens when a meat eater and a vegan fall in love? The new show Becoming Vegan: A Musical Comedy explores that question through laughter, original songs, and thoughtful dialogue.
It all started when writer Sarah Clemency heard her sister talking about her journey toward veganism.
“I heard her say the phrase ‘becoming vegan,’ and I had a moment of ‘woah, what a great name for a show,’” Clemency told VegNews. “Then I thought the juxtaposition of someone very much vegan and someone lying and pretending to be vegan could be fun to play with.”
Clemency went on to write the upbeat yet melancholy song “Nowhere Land,” which explores “feeling lost and going through the motions of life.” The number also inspired the show’s two main characters: AJ, a vegan, and V, a meat eater pretending to be vegan.
V’s lie is exposed through another original song, “Meat or Me.”
“A sweet, slow ballad starts and right before AJ starts singing the audience sees an ensemble member dressed as bacon come out on stage,” she explains. “AJ sings ‘Is it meat or is it me?’ as the bacon does a serious ribbon dance. This escalates to a hilarious nightmarish scene of dairy products, chicken, as well as the bacon swirling around the stage with their ribbons as a dramatic duet is being sung.”
It is an amusing image, but Clemency is also using humor and music to explore something deeper. Conflicts over ethics and personal values are something many people encounter in their relationships, romantic or otherwise.
Becoming Vegan: A Musical Comedy
Can a vegan and a meat eater make a relationship work?
Within the vegan community, whether vegans should date non-vegans is a frequent topic of debate.
“It comes down to how you both are as people,” says one Redditor in the subreddit r/DebateAVegan. “Good people who are willing to compromise will always have an avenue to work things out.”
Another adds: “It’s possible, but overall unlikely. It’s on the same level as devout religious people of different faiths, people of different political ideologies, even people where one wants children and the other doesn’t. These are major conflicting values.”
Ultimately, Clemency’s musical is not designed to settle the debate. Instead, it aims to encourage conversation while giving audiences a good time, of course.
“The position the story takes is that ultimately people should be able to make their own decisions while being honest with not only the people around them, but also themselves,” she said.
“I really want to make people laugh. It’s good for the soul,” she added. “But beyond that, if they maybe leave thinking about something in their own life that they have just been going through the motions with, that’d be cool.”
Catch Becoming Vegan: A Musical Comedy during Circle Fest Off-Broadway at the AMT Theater in New York from October 27 through November 14.
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
