Using clever, humorous dialogue and cultural references across diverse Muslim backgrounds, Uzma’s play centres around the story of a young South Asian woman, Samah, who has fallen in love with a Moroccan man, Hussain. Convinced that her parents will not allow for an intercultural marriage, Samah employs the help of a rambunctious and enterprising matchmaker, Badra, to introduce Samah’s family to a few terrible suitors in order for them to eventually be dazzled and charmed by the last one, Hussain. What ensues is a hilarious sequence of events where each family member strikes a separate and private deal with Badra, hoping for a very different outcome at the end of all the meetings with potential suitors.

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“The Rishta” was developed in collaboration with Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal and made possible thanks to support from from Canada Council for the Arts, Cole Foundation, Inspirit Foundation, Canadian Heritage, and Conseil des arts de Montréal.