August 22, 2008
As General Musharaff relinquishes power in Pakistan, a theatre production with a related theme starts at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival this week.
The Dictator’s Wife, by Mohammed Hanif, is part of Invasian - a group of theatre companies featuring new British Asian writing at the Fringe. It is being produced by the Edinburgh based Wave Theatre.
In Hanif’s play, the First Lady has received five thousand roses for her thirty-fourth wedding anniversary. Her husband, the seventh most powerful man in the world, has started bringing a briefcase to bed.
The only problem is that the brief case contains active controls for the country’s nuclear weapons. Can this feud be contained to the marital bedroom?
Mohammed Hanif has also been promoting his critically acclaimed debut novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, which has been nominated for the Booker Prize, appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Edinburgh Book Fringe.
Wave Theatre was founded in 2005 by Artistic Director Annie George and consistently produces, promotes and develops new writing and acting talent from South Asian, black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
The Dictator’s Wife
by Mohammed Hanif, performed by Nimra Bucha
Invasian Festival – Three Flying Solo
Sun 17-Mon 25 August 2pm daily
112 Club West @ Royal College of Surgeons, Nicolson Street, Edinburgh
Tickets £8.50 (£7.50)
Box Office 0131 527 1562