The Rishta at Centaur Theatre is Fun
Friday, March 31st, 2023The Rishta (‘suitor’ in Hindi-Urdu), performed at Centaur Theatre, is Silk Road Theatre’s first commissioned playscript. Uzma Jalaluddin sets us right down in the middle of an Indian ‘typhoon’ where a multi-generational family’s loves and lies crash with thunder and lightning.
The storm opens when Samah (well played by Eman Ayaz) lets her brother Kamran (Adolyn Dar, who is treated like the “Spare”) know that she is secretly engaged to a fellow student at McGill. Unfortunately for her parents’ expectations, Hussain is Moroccan and an artist – both probably no-nos, since her understanding of her parents’ desires would be for her to marry only a doctor, an engineer or a lawyer. It’s 2023 after all – can’t she marry for love?
Samah tries to set up a plan with matchmaker Badra (acted adorably by Nora Guerch) for her to pick three “losers” who would be so undesirable that Samah’s choice would shine. Badra, who steals the spotlight with her energetic expressions, tells Samah that you can’t just “cancel” a matchmaker’s services like you can cancel your internet. It would affect her reputation.
As in all families, there are rainy day secrets hiding behind their umbrellas. Samah’s parents, Jamal (Ivan Smith) and Arifa (Sehar Manji), have kept the lies about their own courtship hidden so long that they seem set in stone. They continue to keep silent during this storm. Many families do this out of misguided good intentions, embarrassment or shame.
It is terrific to see the inclusiveness of artists who are now highlighting our ancestors, as both the director Masha Bashmakova and and lighting designer Darah Miah, mention that they are living in Tio’tia:ke (Montreal).
Silk Road’s mandate of representation for the Muslim Canadian community shines, since this play helps erase our media-driven view of Muslim life by highlighting an air of playfulness and joy in this family.
No matter how dark the storm clouds, playwright Uzma Jalaluddin is teaching us that life is longer than this moment, and it might be filled with disobedience – and – samosas.
Location: Centaur Theatre, 453 St. Francois Xavier
Phone: 514-288-3161 or 514-288-3161
Dates: March 29-Apr 8, 2023
www.centaurtheatre.com
