Lorca’s masterpiece retold in present day Pakistan

 

In a small town in Pakistan’s fertile Punjab region stands 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 girl Abida to their cousin Pappo, who is visiting Pakistan from America.

 

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.

 

As it celebrates its 21st year, Tamasha teams up with Harrogate Theatre to present amodern interpretation of Federico García Lorca’s 1936masterpiece, The House of Bernarda Alba.

 

Set in present day Jhang – a town steeped in the tragedy and romance of the Heer Ranjha legend – Sudha Bhuchar’s poetic adaptation tells a personal, yet subtly political story of small lives with global ties.