Synopsis It is uncomfortably hot in Jhang, a small town in Pakistan’s fertile Punjab region. Among the mango groves and orchards lies The House of Bilquis Bibi. Inside, a family mourns. With her husband gone, Bilquis must uphold her family’s honour at all costs - the fates of five unmarried daughters lie in her hands. Her solution: to marry off eldest daughter Abida to their cousin Pappo, who is visiting Pakistan from the US. Bilquis turns a blind eye to the illicit nightly visits Pappo pays to his fiancée’s balcony. But as she slowly realises that more than one daughter is staying awake for him, the temperature in the house rises and a tragedy unfolds. A modern-day interpretation of Lorca's 1936 masterpiece The House of Bernarda Alba. With an all-female cast of nine, it tells a personal yet subtly political story of small lives affected by global ties. Running time 2hrs 20mins (inclu. interval)
Tamasha, the company that last year transplanted 'Brontë to Bollywood' with Wuthering Heights, is now celebrating its 21st anniversary by taking Lorca to Pakistan.
On paper it seems a good fit, and writer Sudha Bhuchar (who adapted A Fine Balance at Hampstead four years ago) is at pains to point out the parallels between 1930s Andalusia and contemporary Punjab, particularly in terms of religious suppression.
However, in action the transposition is untidy, and Bhuchar's text lacks the nuance and depth of Lorca's original, even if it remains narratively faithful with the matriarch Bilquis imposing a strict period of mourning on her five desperate daughters.
The unseen cousin Pappo, who proposes to the eldest (Abida) but cavorts with the youngest (Aroosa), becomes the focus of the girls' repressed longing as he creeps around the bedrooms and balconies by night, creating consternation for the dictatorial Bilquis and her loyal servants.
It takes time to attune to the dialogue, partly due to heavy accenting and partly due to some poor delivery. But when it does get going the text is peppered with sharp observations (“old women can see through walls” warns acerbic housemaid Bushra) as well as a striking number of contemporary references, from Skype to Imran Khan.
The performances are patchy, and at times Ila Arun seemed to struggle in the central role. But Rina Fatania has great fun with Bushra, while of the daughters, Mariam Haque (Sumayyah) and Youkti Patel (Aroosa) pack the greatest emotional punch in a production sadly lacking a knockout blow.
Terrible, thats 2 hours I'll never get back! The writing isn't so bad but the acting is awful. I disagree with the reviewer Mariam Haque and Youkti Patel were two of the worst performances in my opinion. It was like watching a bad amature dramatics production. You could barely hear or understand what was being said. Balvinder Sopal being particularly hard to understand. You couldn't tell if she was speaking English or Punjabi. Rina Fatania is the only one worth watching in this god awful production. But if I was you I'd save your money. - Raj
18 Aug 10
A missed opportunity: a good idea badly executed. There's no sense of the claustrophobia of the original nor the intensity - the cheap set doesn't help - nor does the writer veering between attempts at profundity and contemporary realism (facebook, etc). Some of the acting is am-dram and it's hard to accept these characters as being one family. I've enjoyed productions by this company before and hope for a return to form soon. - dgr1
Eton Avenue Swiss Cottage Inner London London NW3 3EU
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[TMA] member. Housed for 40 years in a 'temporary' prefab. In 1999, the Arts Council of England awarded the theatre a National Lottery grant of £9.86 million to fund a new building. The new Hamstead Theatre opened in 2003. The Hampstead Downstairs is a studio space dedicated to new writing.
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