I recently listened to a talk by a friend of mine whose research examines Indian and Pakistani exilic literature. He began by highlighting how in the West people have largely failed to take note of such literature outside of the works of Rushdie and Naipaul. As a devoted reader of both writers, I listened to the rest of that accomplished paper feeling suitably contrite, and I made a mental note to broaden my sub-continental horizons.

Luckily for me, I was due to write this preview of Our Lady of Lahore, a play adapted from a short-story by the American-Pakistani writer Daniyal Mueenuddin, which will run at the Corpus Playroom in Week 8.

“Khan’s PhD examines how participation in theatre helps Muslim minorities integrate themselves in European societies”

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, the original short story that lends its name to Mueenuddin’s award-winning debut collection, is a tale of unconventional love and class tension, two staples of English fiction. Husna, a young woman from a once-wealthy Lahori family, jealously watches the privileges of Lahore’s rich and powerful. After delivering a letter to the estranged husband of the woman she serves, she imagines the life the rich man, Harouni, could provide for her. Perhaps inevitably, given her impoverished existence, and despite the sadly equally-inevitable shaming that would follow, she pursues Harouni, a retired civil servant and landlord of feudal proportions who is old enough to be her grandfather. Husna’s experience of the good life is, of course, not what she imagined.

The story has been adapted for the stage by producer, director, and co-writer Maria Khan, whose PhD examines how participation in theatre helps Muslim minorities integrate themselves in European societies. Maria has a decade of experience acting around the world at such prestigious institutions as Bard College in Berlin and the Globe in London. When I asked her what we can expect from Our Lady of Lahore, she told me: “It’s not a political statement on the state of women’s rights in Pakistan. Rather, it’s a representation and the audience will be asked to draw their own conclusions.” With such emotive subject matter, it feels inevitable that the audience will consider Husna’s position in a wider context, so familiar is her predicament to all societies. 

Race representation doesn't end at Macbeth

The script is co-written by Meher Daultana, a student of Cambridge’s creative writing programme. With such experience and relative expertise, there is a lot of potential here. The cast is diverse, the story award-winning, and the message from the creatives behind it is clear: “Our aim is to entertain but also to educate.”

Our Lady of Lahore runs at the Corpus Playroom from Thu 9th  - Sat 11th March, 9:30pm