Trash Cuisine (2013)

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And save some room for dessert, because we’ve got firing squad and stoning. Can I take your order?

Belarus Free Theatre serve up food, music, dance and Shakespeare as they share true stories from inmates, executioners, human rights lawyers and families of the executed.

This provocative and urgent show pierces the imagination with moments of the darkest humour as it challenges capital punishment in our contemporary world, where 36 countries still carry out the death penalty.

WINNER! Impatto Totale Award (Edinburgh Festival 2013)
Voted in Top Ten of shows to see at the Edinburg Fringe Festival 2013 by The Scotsman

Age Guidance: 14+

Reviews:

‘This show combines everything that made BFT great, adds some new spice, and whirls it into a stew that already has London humming, and should make a resounding splash in Edinburgh as well. An unequivocal recommendation.’
★★★★★ One Stop Arts

‘Powerful… Bold… Chilling. Once again, Belarus Free Theatre prove their capacity to stir our consciences through their sensuous theatricality.’
★★★★ The Guardian

‘What Belarus Free Theatre does so well, in fact, is…transform the documentary evidence into spellbinding theatrical imagery.’
★★★★ The Independent

‘Its mixture of righteous anger and at times inspired theatrical imagination make Trash Cuisine an urgent and unforgettable experience.’
★★★★ The Telegraph

‘Exceptional… Go and have a good night out… Achieves the rare, and today, unfashionable, distinction of combining dissident fury with exceptional theatrical imagery and eloquence.’
★★★★ Whats On Stage

Tweets from our audience…

the MolinoGroup 7 Jun: “#TrashCuisine by @BFreeTheatre is a masterclass in powerful political theatre. Something to aspire to, theatre really can make change.”

Emily LeQuesne 31 May: “@BFreeTheatre @youngvictheatre #Trashcuisine.Saw in Bristol.Such powerful theatre it made me physically shake.“

BeFrank Theatre Co 6 Jun: “How do you communicate #humanrights through theatre? This is how: #TrashCuisine by@BFreeTheatre @youngvictheatre – amazing work!”

Reviews:

Based on true stories
Devised and performed by Belarus Free Theatre

Written by Nicolai Khalezin and Natalia Kaliada
Additional Contributions by Stephanie Pan, Nastassia Shcherbak, Aleh Sidorchyk, Clive Stafford Smith and Philippe Spall
Directed by Nicolai Khalezin

Performers, Devisers and Contributors:
Victoria Biran
Kiryl Kanstantsinau
Siarhei Kvachonak
Esther Mugambi
Stephanie Pan
Pavel Haradnitski
Maryia Sazonava
Philippe Spall
Arkadiy Yushin

Original cast included: Aleh Sidorchyk and Nastassia Shcherbak

Concept, Co-movement Direction, Stage and Costume Design: Nicolai Khalezin and Natalia Kaliada
Composer and Musician: Arkadiy Yushin
Choreographer and Rehearsal Director: Bridget Fiske
Additional Music: Stephanie Pan
Set Designer: Yuri Kaliada
Lighting Designer: Andrew Crofts
Translator in Development: Olga Moskaleva
Stage Manager: Svetlana Sugako
Assistant Director: Nadia Brodskaya
Original Producer and Researcher: Fenella Dawnay
Executive Producers: Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin

Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Performed in English

Co-produced in London with the Young Vic, supported by LIFT.

Researched with support from Amnesty International. Commissioned, originally developed and presented on 5 October 2011 at Stadsshouwberg, Amsterdam co-produced by the European Cultural Foundation as part of ECF’s Imagining Europe Festival.

The 2013 UK performances were supported by Network for Social Change, The Attenborough Charitable Trust, The Kevin Spacey Foundation, Pleasance Theatre Trust, The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, AKA International Entertainment Marketing Agency, The Royal Victoria Hall Foundation, Oak Foundation, The Monument Trust and all the generous supporters who donated via Sponsume
.
2015 U.S premiere presented by La MaMa.

Trash Cuisine features quotes from the following plays by William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar and Richard III.

Trash Cuisine won the “Total Impact Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013, assigned by the Italian Cultural Institute

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