Belarus Free Theatre to Return to New York This Week with TRASH CUISINE at La MaMa

Belarus Free Theatre -- the internationally-acclaimed troupe said by Sir Tom Stoppard to "defy gravity" -- returns to New York with the U.S. premiere of TRASH CUISINE at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E. 4 St.) in Manhattan, it has been announced by Mia Yoo, La MaMa's Artistic Director. TRASH CUISINE will begin previews April 25, officially open April 29 and run through May 17. This production of TRASH CUISINE marks the first time that Belarus Free Theatre performs its work in English.

This NY presentation of TRASH CUISINE is produced by La MaMa, and is a continued collaboration with The Public Theater in support of Belarus Free Theatre.

A series of post-show talk backs and performances will be held in conjunction with TRASH CUISINE. Scheduled April 25-May 17, TRASH CUISINE will perform Mondays through Saturdays at 7 pm and Sundays at 4 pm with the following exceptions: no performances May 2-5 and May 11.

Founded in 2005 under Europe's last surviving dictatorship, Belarus Free Theatre continues to make some of the world's most provocative theatre even though it is legally banned from performing in Belarus by the repressive regime. Over the past decade, political circumstances have forced the company of actors and directors to live apart: several members, under threat of arrest in their homeland, live in exile in London and create work with fellow company members in Belarus via Skype. Belarus Free Theatre have performed in more than 42 countries across the world, and have been critically and publically acclaimed.

The BFT company members will, indeed, be reunited for this engagement of TRASH CUISINE in NYC.

Belarus Free Theatre founders were exiled from their home country in 2011 because their work confronts Lukashenko's appalling human rights record. TRASH CUISINE explores capital punishment. Europe remains on the list of continents where capital punishment still exists -- in 2015 -- because of Belarus.

TRASH CUISINE draws on the works of Shakespeare, who often referenced capital punishment, and blends in elements of various national cuisines in order to emphasize local flavors of violence. The production was one of the breakout hits at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a subsequent sold-out performance at the Young Vic in London where was described by the Daily Telegraph as, "an urgent and unforgettable experience". The London premiere was accompanied by the launch of the Give A Body Back campaign, supported by Jude Law amongst notable others, to raise awareness of the fact that the bodies of executed people in Belarus are not returned to their families, making it absolutely impossible for them to grieve properly. In any other country in Europe, this disregard for humanity and perpetuation of pain and violence would be considered an appalling human rights violation.

Mia Yoo, La MaMa's Artistic Director notes, "It is so meaningful to have Belarus Free Theatre at La MaMa again. With TRASH CUISINE we hope to initiate dialogue and increase awareness about issues of capital punishment, the penal system in the U.S. and human rights around the world. Only a company like BFT can marry art and politics in their own fearless and provocative way."

Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) was founded in direct response to the absolute censorship of freedom of expression in Belarus and came to international attention for their unwavering commitment to revealing human truths and tackling taboos with unflinching honesty. Over the past decade, the troupe have grown in size and international artists from the US and Australia are now part of the permanent ensemble. Like their Belarusian counterparts, Stephanie Pan (USA) and Esther Mugambi (Australia) were persecuted for their involvement with BFT. They were detained by the Belarusian KGB upon their arrival to Belarus and kept in confinement for 27 hours at the airport. They were only released and deported because their arrest prompted international outrage.

Belarus Free Theatre counts among its ardent supporters Sir Tom Stoppard, Kevin Spacey, Mick Jagger and the late Harold Pinter, all of whom have spoken out about the urgent need for the company to prevail in the face of political adversity in its own country. The company continues to perform in Minsk and does so - in its ongoing effort to avoid arrest for the company members as well as the audience - by contacting audience members by telephone one or two days in advance and instructing them to convene at a specific location where they are led to a secret venue for the show. Typically 2,000 people apply online for the approximately 50 seats available per performance.

BFT first performed in NYC in 2010 at La MaMa; their work DISCOVER LOVE was at Theatre Without Borders' ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE: A CONFERENCE ON THEATRE AND PEACE-BUILDING IN CONFLICT ZONES. The company returned to La MaMa in 2011 for the Under The Radar Festival and presented the wildly-acclaimed BEING HAROLD PINTER. As well, in the spring of 2011, BFT performed BEING HAROLD PINTER in repertory with ZONE OF SILENCE and DISCOVER LOVE. The company was nominated for a 2011 Drama Desk Award and won the Ross Wetzsteon Obie Award that same year.

A series of special events will take place following select performance of TRASH CUISINE.

Subject to change, the list of events will include (dates TBA):

- THEATRE OF THE OPPRESSED NYC FORUM PERFORMANCE with Katy Rubin; A troupe of young court-involved actors (ages 18-24) from Bed-Stuy, Harlem and Staten Island will perform an original forum play about injustice in the criminal justice system and barriers to re-integration post-incarceration.

- TALK-BACK ON THE PENAL SYSTEM. A panel of experts including Ellen Kaplan (Smith College), Soffiyah Elijah (Correctional Association of NY), representatives from the Center for Court Innovation and CASES, Fred Patrick (Vera Institute of Justice) and Tyrone Werts (Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program) will discuss the penal system in the U.S. and abroad.

- PANEL ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Both sides of the debate on capital punishment will be discussed with a panel including Natalia Kaliada (Belarus Free Theatre), a representative from the Innocence Project, and others TBA.

- As well, a date is expected to be scheduled for a GIVE A BODY BACK demonstration - events organized by students and artists during which they lie in white body bags in public locations to protest capital punishment and the Belarus government policy of not returning bodies to the families of the deceased.

Tickets to TRASH CUISINE are $40 ($35 for students/seniors) Preview tickets are $30 and can be purchased online at www.lamama.org or by phone at 646-430-5374. La MaMa has a 10 for 10 $10 ticket program -- 10 tickets for ever performance are sold for $10 each, sold in advance on a first-come, first-served bases.

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