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 -