Uzbekistan's Ilkhom Theatre Company at ACT

The Ilkhom Theatre Company of Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Seattle's sister city) gave a wonderful performance of White White Black Stork. The play, adapted from stories by Abdulla Kayri, deals with pain of forbidden love and forced marriage of two dreamers, both of whom do not observe the repressive patriarchal social conventions of their orthodox Muslim community, which leads to despair, family quarrels and untimely tragedy.

The play was performed in Uzbek and Russian with English supertitles. (We're used to this in opera but this was the first theatrical performance with supertitles we had attended to date.) The melodic sound of Uzbek and Russian along with the mystical and haunting lute instantly transport the viewer into a simple garden of an orthodox Muslim community in Tashkent where the story takes place.

In the words of Misha Berson of the Seattle Times theatre critic:

"White White Black Stork" is not a polemic, but rather a piece of theater with a refined and sophisticated aesthetic. Such enhancements as the simple white costuming and the beguiling original music of piping flutes and brooding chords are impressive.

And the Ilkhom acting ensemble is near-seamless. The cast's fine-tuned gestures, facial expressions and more-subtle emotional dynamics are perfected, but not studied or gimmicky.

Most striking are the ethereal beauty and naked vulnerability of the dazzling performers portraying the story's young protagonists: Said Khudaibergenov (as Makhzum) and Nigora Karimbaeva (Makhichehra). Long before the show ends, you ache with them. And long afterward, their faces haunt you.