Ben
Brantley

April 29, 2015

If you judge a show by its title, you’d expect “Trash Cuisine,” the latest offering from the intrepid Belarus Free Theater, to be a friendly, jokey hoot. It’s a name that puts you in mind of those breezy adventure shows for armchair chefs — “Have Fork, Will Travel” or “Bizarre Foods” — with an extra nip of camp added for seasoning. What’s really on the menu, though, is raw fare for strong stomachs. The format of this inventive but diffuse production, which opened on Wednesday night at the Ellen Stewart Theater, may resemble that of a television pilot whipped up by Anthony Bourdain. In an early scene, a man with an occasional French accent (the Anglo-French actor Philippe Spall) promises that he will be guiding us through “a cook’s tour of the globe.” It is just the thing, he says, for Americans, whose idea of fine dining is usually “meat with more meat on the side.” But be warned: The meat of “Trash Cuisine” is, for the most part, human. Before the evening’s end, flesh like that of our own vulnerable bodies is sliced, chopped, stuffed, fried and, in one case, sautéed in a frying pan. These acts are simulated through an assortment of theatrical devices, carefully chosen to assault every one of the senses.