Sabrina Vellani

Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre
The Wrong Bashir by Zahida Rahemtulla

Date June 11, 2020 at 7:30pm | Pyatt Hall

When and Where August 28, 2020 at 6pm | Live streamed through ZOOM

Director Rachel Ditor Dramaturg Heidi Taylor Producer/Assistant Director Shanae Sodhi
Cast Rumi Tejpar, Nimet Kanji, Dhirendra, Sabrina Vellani, Shekhar Paleja, Parm Soor, Balinder Johal, Salim Rahemtulla & Chandni Appadurai

Reviewer John Jane

 



VACT have offered a free public reading of The Wrong Bashir, a living room comedy by Zahida Rahemtulla, about an iinter-generational, Ismaili family that has resettled from Uganda, East Africa to Vancouver. The performance is essentially a script-in-hand (or in this case script-on-table) reading by a cast of nine professional actors from their own individual homes using ZOOM video-conferencing technology.

The play's premise centres on Bashir Ladha (Rumi Tejpar), a UBC philosophy student who moves back into his parent's home and is mistaken for a more religious observer by the same name. To his family's delight he is selected to be the Mukhisaheb (religious youth leader). Mistaken identity is, of course a well-worn theatrical device. The humour in this play is more philosophical and comes not from the usual farcical context of precise timing of opening and closing doors, but in the young man's perspicacious reluctance juxtaposed with his parent's false pride.

The cast has a troupe of experienced Indo-Canadian actors, including Nimet Kanji and Dhirendra as Bashir’s Mom and Dad and rising star Sabrina Vellani as Bashir's younger and more insightful sister.

The Wrong Bashir is certainly a work in progress, but with the potential for a full scale theatrical production.

© 2020 John Jane