Gelin at Canal Cafe Theatre Review
Photo by Cinar Unal
Written by Jasmine for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
In this London-set re-imagining of Ibrahim Sinasi’s 1859 play ‘The Wedding of a Poet’, ‘Gelin’ explores the generational and cultural rifts that come with being part of a diaspora in times of rapid change. In the beautiful Canal Cafe Theatre, this play will fly by - the classic story every bit as gripping, entertaining, and relevant now as it was when it was written.
Re-written by Estelle Warner in collaboration with co-producer/performer Duru Agirbas, the story centres on a young woman, Aylin (Gunes Soysal), whose mother (Duru Agirbas) attempts to set up an arranged marriage, and who sends her best friend, Yaz (Elif Gulalp), in her place to get out of it.
In her role as the mother, Agirbas quickly brings you into the world of the play - interacting more with the audience than any other character, and getting a fair few giggles from the fun ways she involves us in her matchmaking schemes. It is a part that has the potential to be seen in a negative light because of the way she pushes her daughter to put aside her own wants to fulfil her expectations. However, Agirbas makes her sympathetic, easy to understand and still likeable even if you don’t agree with everything she does.
Aylin is a pitch-perfect protagonist; one of the most effective strands in this play is the exploration of the gap between people a generation ago, marrying younger, having children younger, and now, when a lot of people haven’t found a sense of stability/life path or settled down by their thirties. Still living at home at age 29, trying and struggling to start her own business, Aylin’s arc, portrayed brilliantly by Soyal, focuses on learning to be able to be honest with herself and with those around her. It is a really effective approach to shifting an old story into a setting that resonates with an audience today.
In this way, the production manages to keep the fun of the arranged marriage/bride swap plot whilst actively exploring how we move past the troubling norms at its core. The love plot itself is frankly lovely, and Elif Gulalp is hilarious and incredibly likeable as Yaz and Pedro Millan Duke is a great match for her as Emre - they both balance comedy and depth beautifully throughout their scenes together.
All the relationships throughout the show are handled really impactfully; Erica Rosa Lima has done a great job of the direction here - Aylin and Yaz’s friendship is moving in their commitment to each other, and Aylin and her mother’s relationship is handled really sensitively as it crosses some really rocky ground.
This is a great example of a modern adaptation which manages to keep the best parts of the original while giving us a meaningful lens to view modern conversations about cultural and generational gaps through. ‘Gelin’ is a great story, a lot of laughs, and a night out at a gorgeous theatre - so I look forward to seeing this team do next.
Plays until 1 February
★★★★
