Dil Ka [‘of the heart’] follows Zahra, a 26-year-old Pakistani woman, as she prepares to meet her latest arranged match for marriage. Zahra spends most of the play in her family’s kitchen preparing the traditional Pakistani dish, biryani, to present to the prospective groom’s family.

Dil Ka investigates the concept of the kitchen as both refuge and place of constriction for many South Asian women, and dissects the way in which we inherit familial habits and – most importantly – recipes. Toying with direct address as a confessional to explore the intersecting identity of a queer Muslim woman and the growing tension between her familial duties and her own desires for life. As the story unfolds the biryani becomes a metaphor for the ingredients that make a “perfect bride”.

Feature image by: Emily Cooper