The Baklawa Recipe, a play about food and family at the Centaur Theatre written by Pascale Rafie and directed by Emma Tibaldo serves up the stories of two generations of Lebanese women. Two sisters-in-law Nadia (Christina Tannous) and Rita (Natalie Tannous) who have emigrated from their native Lebanon and immigrated to Canada must grapple with different customs, shifting mores, and the loss of their familiar moorings with all the hope and challenges that life in their new country entails. Despite the enduring friendship of their mothers, cousins Naima/Rita's daughter (Eleanor Noble) and Fanny/Nadia's daughter (Anne-Marie Saheb) must decide where to plant their own roots. Over the years there is always the shared ritual of women making the baklawa - relatives, friends, and the annoying chorus of gossipy women in the neighborhood. This is a play that is rife with themes of sisterhood. In real life Rafie's half-sister Melissa Bull translated the play from its original French version to English while the parts of the sisters-in-law are played by actual sisters. LIke the pastry after which it is named the play has many layers, evincing the bittersweet immigrant experience. The translation was commissioned and developed through Playwrights' Workshop Montreal courtesy of the Cole Foundation which is dedicated to promoting a diversity of cultural voices on local stages.
January 23 - February 18, 2018
The Centaur Theatre
453 St Francois Xavier St., Montreal
Box Office: (514) 288-3161
www.centaurtheatre.com