KNOT to be

The play,says Kapadia,will be something between a play-reading and actual stage performance. “Instead of reciting the lines,the artistes will get into the characters like they do for the actual performance. The only difference is that they will be delivering dialogues with a paper in hand,” adds Kapadia.

The story deals with Nisha,played by Shirina Sambyal,her parents (Anahita Uberoi enacts the role of the mother) and her would-be husband,a role essayed by Viraf Phiroz Patel. Just hours before her wedding,Nisha develops cold feet and locks herself in a bathroom,refusing to come out. Her parents get just as jittery,and for two reasons — their reputation,and the fact that they have spent a neat packet on the Punjabi wedding arrangements.

The parents make up most of the action,from coaxing their daughter to questioning their own marriage. “There is a discussion between the parents about whether they have really been married for all these years,or did their marriage slip into an arrangement of convenience. They realise that it is their own relationship that makes their daughter start doubting the marriage vows and their meaning,” explains Kapadia.

The plays gives the serious subject a comic treatment. Two decades ago,says Kapadia,running away from one’s own wedding would have been an unthinkable idea. Modern youngsters,however,would be familiar with the concept,even if from films. “Ironically this liberty of options has led to relationships breaking easily and the divorce numbers rising. What we are doing through the reading is not preaching people about marriages and relationships. We just want them to see it,judge for themselves and think accordingly,” he says. (A Wedding without the Bride will be performed at Al Fresco Radisson Hotel on August 26)