Khonj

About the Play

Eitan, a young German-Jewish genetic researcher, who falls out with his straight-laced Jewish family after they disapprove of his falling in love with Wahida, a American-Arab graduate student. Wahida and Eitan meet in a reading room of a American University library. Wahida is writing her doctoral thesis on the life of Al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad Al-Wazzan or Leo Africanus. Since Eitan’s parents erupted at a Passover meal when they realized Wahida was not Jewish, he has harboured a suspicion about his heritage that, if true, could change everything. They travel together on a journey to Israel to learn more about his complicated family’s history.

But A terrorist attack in Jerusalem puts Eitan in a coma. While he is in the hospital, Wahida tracks down his estranged grandmother – who holds the key to a long-buried family secret. Three generations from three continents come together at Eitan’s bedside and the well-kept secret of the grandparents results the tragic death of Eitan’s father David. Part political thriller and part emotionally charged love story, Khonj probes to the very heart of who we are – or think we are.

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.

Cast

Jishu Das as Etgar

Mubidur Rahman Sujat as Wazzan

Kamal Barua as David

Dipta Chakraborty as Eitan

Sabiha Binta Jashim as Leah

Puja Biswas as Norah

Amita Barua as Wahida

Showrav Moktadir as Rabbi, Doctor, Hospital Employee

Shaoun Dey as Doctor, Waiter

Rifah Tasnia Ahona/ Aparajita Chowdhury as Nurse

Payel Chowdhury as Eden

 

Credit

Playwright : Wajdi Mouawad

Set, Light, Music Design & Direction : Ashim Das

Adaptation : Ashim Das, Kamal Barua

Costume Design & Music Control : Anwesha Das

Projector Control : A Sami Bin Zahid

Props Making : Abdul Malek, Farhad Hossain

Make-up : Shahriar Hannan

Set Making : Abdul Malek

FOH : Fameans

Production Manager : Tilottoma Sengupta