It starts pretty low-key, with dim lights and a mellow guitar tune (played live), then into an ensemble physical theatre scene – eight people and as many wooden stools acting out motifs of restraint, disorientation and unbalance. It revs up with the arrival of a crowd-rousing compere: ‘I said HELLO Edinburgh!’ who goes into a little rap on the Scots’ love of meat – meat with meat, even. It really takes off with the first of many satirical scenes that tell stories of terror and death whilst playing out harrowing visual metaphors of the human being treated as little more than meat. So in this scene, dubbed ‘strawberries and cream’, two executioners compare notes over the dinner table on their countries’ capital punishment tactics. Person A just takes them off and shoots them in the woods, not bothering to return the bodies to the families (we presume this to be about Belarus). Person B, who seems to be representing an Asian country, says that executioners ask forgiveness of the bodies of those killed, place flowers in their dead hands, and prepare a meal for the victim’s family. It’s hard to say which is more distressing.

And so it goes – we ricochet from Belarus (the only European country to retain the death penalty) to Belfast (appalling torture only happens in faraway lands? Think again!), via Argentina, America and China.

The term ‘total theatre’ could have been invented for this show: live music that veers from soft and sultry guitar boleros to big bombastic hand-beaten drum tattoos. Spoken words: disorientating dialogue, on-mic narration by the chipper compere, and a mock stand-up comedy scene in which we are treated to ‘impressions’ of death by various means, from gas chamber (‘Hisssssssssssssssss’) to stoning (‘I’ll just do an excerpt from this one because it can take hours!’). Recorded words: on-screen statistics, pre-recorded verbatim texts, and interview material – which includes an extraordinary detailed description of the process of electrocution given by renowned human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. Word-free scenes using simple but beautiful choreography – the wooden stools become a recurring motif, and there is a lovely tango dance for the Argentinean story of a ‘disappeared’ young man. Startling visual images: two naked human bodies hunched up like oven-ready chickens, decorated in fruit then rolled in black plastic body bags; two condemned boys hung from the wall. Oh and then there’s the cooking… ‘Meat is murder’ rings through the hall, in our heads if not actually in reality.

There are many shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2013 tackling harrowing personal stories and appalling political situations worldwide. Here’s one that knows how to do it in a way that leaves the audience shocked – but in the right sort of way. Shocked to learn (or be reminded of) such atrocities, but given this information in a way that uses the tools of theatre artfully to do so – telling us about terror without terrorising us; giving us food for thought. Having worthy and shocking stories to tell is not enough if you’re a theatre-maker – it’s how you tell them that matters. Just for the record: there were many walkouts; there were people in tears; there was a well-deserved ovation. Trash Cuisine is a phenomenal piece of theatre, an extraordinary achievement from Belarus Free Theatre.