Theatre review: Strong performances and big laughs as The Wrong Bashir makes generational conflict universal
Well-drawn characters shed comedic new light on Canada’s Ismaili community
Neha Devi Singh, Aman Mann, and Seth Ranaweera in The Wrong Bashir. Photo by Matt Reznek
Firehall Arts Centre presents Touchstone Theatre’s The Wrong Bashir to March 12
THE GAP BETWEEN parents’ expectations for their children and the reality of their offspring’s lives is a story as old as time, with conflict seemingly inevitable amid generational differences.
Thrust into a situation that can change one’s trajectory, even if temporarily, would one let go of the status quo for a new direction? This is the question posed by Zahida Rahemtulla’s play The Wrong Bashir, where an oversight gives rise to humour and hopeful possibilities.
Bashir Ladha (Aman Mann), a university philosophy major, has moved back home after running short on money, to the delight of his doting parents Najma (Neha Devi Singh) and Sultan (Seth Ranaweera). Shortly after his return, they receive a call notifying them that Bashir has been selected as Mukhisaheb, an important religious role in the Ismaili community. They summarily accept on his behalf. Bashir, whose last visit to a mosque is a distant memory, can't make sense of why and is at a loss for what to do. To make matters worse, his grandparents Dawood (Salim Rahemtulla) and Farida (Shera Haji) already know the news, and through their family friend Gulzar (Leena Manro), perhaps the wider community as well.
Hilarity ensues as Bashir struggles to choose between honouring his family’s wishes or following his own pursuits, as he faces down committee representatives who have descended on the household to confirm his appointment.
The dramatis personae of the play, notably the title character, are refreshing. Bashir’s concept of releasing new podcasts via cassettes in boomboxes is a memorable quirk, while comedic tropes, like Mansour (Parm Soor) and Najma’s mishearing of his show’s title, The Smiling Nihilist (as “The Ismaili Naughty List”), elicits easy laughter. Rahemtulla also sculpts characters’ memories with vivid details, through Dawood’s nostalgia for his days as a laundromat operator, or Sultan’s fond recollections of his first impressions of automatic doors and water fountains.
The show’s large cast is a pleasure to watch, both in unison and cacophonous, most expressive when kinetically exuberant: Soor, in particular, manifests Mansour’s traits with a brilliant physicality.
Beyond its well-drawn characters, the play succeeds in highlighting relatable family dilemmas, matters of social cohesion and emancipation that leap past culturally specific contexts to be universally relevant.
Director Daniela Atiencia creates zones of action that expand and contract, guiding focus for dramatic or comedic effect through Jonathan Kim’s lighting design and Kimira Reddy’s partitioned domestic set. Artful touches include lights that vignette down to a boombox playing, or flare up fully for an abrupt revelation.
The consistency of parent-child dynamics across societies makes Bashir’s predicament immediately relatable. Through a comedic lens, The Wrong Bashir affirms the ubiquity of generational challenges, while also shining a light on the Ismaili community in Canada.
Hussein Janmohamed and Parm Soor. Photo by Matt Reznek
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