Showing @ Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh until Mon 26 Aug @ 15:30
In a post-horsegate society, you might think Trash Cuisine was a fast-food chain set up by John McCririck. It is however something altogether more uncomfortable. Under the loose guise of teaching recipes, the Belarus Free Theatre use entrancing techniques to inform us of a number of disquieting human rights abuses.
This show falls under many umbrellas, fusing theatre, dance, art, film, lecture and music into a striking and enthralling, but also an unnerving and discomforting performance. It’s not a subtle production; the themes of torture, cruelty and injustice are hammered home until they’re ringing (literally) in your ears. The culinary angle is sharp, working on numerous levels, most obviously perhaps; showing how the poor people mentioned are treated no better (often worse) than pieces of meat. It also helps stylistically, the bountiful props and the scope for settings, mean the performers are never stagnant in displaying their unsettling smorgasbord of visual, physical and verbal imagery. Peculiarly, the grotesque and inhumane actions are frequently accompanied by graceful live guitar melodies. This of course underpins the play’s key; that while these horrendous deeds have-taken/are-taking place across the globe, most of us obliviously hum a ditty to ourselves and continue with our day.
One thought on “Trash Cuisine”