La Mama Earth
presents

Belarus Free Theatre’s TRASH CUISINE

Written by Nicolai Kahlezin and Natalia Kaliada
Directed by Nicolai Khalezin
Choreographer: Bridget Fiske
Stage and Costume Design; Nicolai Kahlezin and Natalia Kaliada
Composer and Musician: Arkadiy Yushin
Lighting Design: Andrew Crofts
Set Design: Yuri Kaliada

Ensemble: Victoria Biran, Pavel Haradnitski, Kiryl Kanstantsinau, Siarhei Kvachonak, Esther Mugami, Stephanie Pan, Maryia Sazonava, Phillipe Spall

Press Representative: Sam Rudy

Ellen Stewart Theatre
La Mama
66 East 4th Street
Through May 17, 2015
www.lamama.org or 646-430-5374.

TRASH CUISINE is political theatre done imaginatively. The Belarus Free Theatre company is incensed over the atrocities that continue in their homelands and across the globe and are on a mission to stop the insanity by spreading the word through theatre. This play melds art and politics in alarming ways that can jar your nerves as it makes a call to action for human rights.

Anglo-French actor Phillipe Spall, opens the show and invites us on a “culinary” tour around the world. The ensemble marries the culinary arts with brutality, specifically on the death penalty, waterboarding and persecution. And with just a few props, they manage to convey a variety of scenarios.

There are several vignettes and the first one opens with two female executioners from Thailand and Belarus, who compare electric chair killings while eating strawberries and cream, and sipping champagne. Other vignettes include: a Rwandan woman who describes how her husband carved up their children during the genocide while a chef sizzles “steak” nearby; a horrendous accounting of an electric chair incident in the US, mouthed by various diners at a restaurant; a man devouring an entire small bird, while describing how cruelly it was treated to prepare this delicacy. Thankfully, he had a napkin over his head, as he smacked his lips while crunching on the bones and recounting the bird’s treatment. There are references to Shakespeare throughout and tellings of actual unjust death penalty cases.

The vignettes are presented in rapid fire succession - with some creative choreography - but it doesn’t give you much time to grasp any one atrocity or injustice. Nonetheless, it is a brave undertaking to remind us of the world we live in. Belarus is the last European country with the death penalty. Belarus Free Theatre is a brave underground troupe whose goal is to raise awareness of the brutality of the dictatorship in their homeland. Their members have been imprisoned and some are living in exile.

These very talented, international cast members are a skillful, physical group. And the live music was wonderfully matched. This is a noble use of theatre to send a critical message.

- Gloria Talamas -