The poetry of Stork talk

Makhzum, a young Muslim from Tashkent who spends his time writing poems and dreaming of storks, is sent to an Islamic college to study.

When he is caught trying to kiss another boy, his scandal-fearing father decides to marry him off in a hastily arranged ceremony to a girl who is herself already in love with someone else. Strong religious and social traditions ensure that, despite the repeated refrain that they 'have entered the 20th century', grievances between the two families compound themselves and tragedy follows.

The Ilkhom Theatre's adaptation of this story by cult Uzbek writer Abdullah Kadyri is given in Russian and Uzbek, with surtitles in flickering text on an electronic board above the stage.

Although this is distracting, especially sitting at the front of The Pit's auditorium, the action is so slowmoving that you are in little danger of not being able to keep up.

Director Mark Weil tells his tale with elegant poetic simplicity, strongly assisted by Aziza Sadykova's evocative score. The playing area is dominated by gourdlike containers filled with water, feathers and - ominously - ashes, and a huge tree hung with swings.

The actors perhaps spend too much time jogging around the tree pursuing one another but that doesn't stop the performance from accruing a solemn intensity all the same.

White White Black Stork