Forests

About the Play

The teenage Loup investigates the cause of her mother’s brain tumor and unravels a cycle of mother-daughter stories that flows back seven generations where the bonds of family are tested, stretched, broken and, finally, redeemed by love.

When her mother Aimée learns that she has an unusual brain tumor, she has to decide whether to abort her pregnancy or risk her life to have her child. Although she knows she will have to pay the ultimate price, she chooses her child, only to die when her daughter Loup is a teenager. Enraged and grief-stricken, her 16-year old daughter Loup reluctantly begins a quest to discover the origin of her mother’s mysterious illness, an illness that brought on unsettling visions and prophecies before it finally claimed her life. Loup turns to her grandparents and then looks to wartime Europe before the story leads us to Loup’s ancestors and the forest where they lived – and where Loup begins to unearth her family’s darkest secrets. In a story that spans six generations and two continents, Wajdi Mouawad demonstrates that the bonds of family are not merely biological and cannot be contained: they are borne of love, sacrifice and deep commitment, and endure beyond the death of any single member.

About the Playwright

A Lebanese-Canadian writer, actor, and director Wajdi Mouawad (born 1968) was born in Lebanon. Mouawad’s family left the country when he was eight due to the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War. He moved to Montreal in 1983 after living in France for five years. He obtained his diploma in interprétation (acting) from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1991.

He is known in Canadian and French theatre for politically engaged works such as the acclaimed play Incendies (2003). His works often revolve around family trauma, war, the betrayal of youth. Since April 2016, Mouawad has been the director of the Théâtre National de la Colline in Paris.

Tous des oiseaux; English translation: Birds of a kind, L’œil, Ciels; English translation: Heavens, Incendies; English translation: Scorched are some of his most acclaimed plays.

On Stage

Jishu Das as Gerrard the boy giraffe

Kamal Barua as Douglas Dupontel

Dipta Chakraborty as Baptist, Alexander Keller

Sabiha Binte Jashim as Jen, Sarah Cohen

Mahbuba Akter Mili as Merry

Amita Barua as Leone, Ludivine

Aruna Dutta as Aimee, Luce

Jyoti Barua as Luciene, Jeremy

Hridoy Deb as Guest, Albert Keller

Ariyana Hoque Rodela as Guest, Maya

Inan Ilham as Dr. Freedman, Achille, Samuel

Salma Jahan as Guest, Mathilde Keller, Sarah Cohen

Saprotiv Das as Guest, Dr. Heem, Little Gerrard, Armand

Chaity Saha as Guest, Odette

Aditya Das as Archivist, David (pilot)

Orni Banik as Nurse, Helen

Vhaskar Roy as Guest, Notary, Ambroise

Afsana Mimi as Loup

 

Off Stage

Playwright : Wajdi Mouawad

Adaptation : Ashim Das, Anwesha Das

Set, Light, Music Design & Direction : Ashim Das

Assistant to the Director : Jishu Das, Mubidur Rahman Sujat

Technical Assistant : Kamal Barua

Production Co-ordinator : Kamal Barua, Dipta Chakraborty

Costume Design : Fameans

Music Control : Rajib Roy Chowdhury

Projector Control : Jyoti Barua, Ariyana Haque Rodela

Voice Over : Anirban Bhattacharya, Saprotiv Das, Inan Ilham

Props Making : Ariyana Haque Rodela

Set Making : Abdul Malek

Wardrobe : Sabiha Binta Jashim, Amita Barua, Ariyana Haque Rodela

Make-up : Shahriar Hannan, Bishwajit Dasgupta Api

Publicity : Md. Azmal Hossen, Farhad Hossain

Poster Design : Bishwajit Talapatra

Photograph : Mime Hasan

Production Advisor : Tilottoma Sengupta

FOH : Fameans