Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The title of Bijan Sheibani\u2019s new play refers to that most fundamental of lifelines: the umbilical cord. In this short, sometimes painfully honest drama, Sheibani gives a movingly frank account of the early days of parenthood \u2014 the wonder, the ecstasy, the anxiety, the confusion, the arguments and, above all, the overwhelming exhaustion. But at its heart, The Cord is about something deeper: the way the arrival of a baby signals a fundamental shift in identity and in key relationships.Sheibani\u2019s focus is on Ash, a new dad (Irfan Shamji). The birth of his son, Louis, has knocked him sideways \u2014 it has filled him with joy and tenderness, but also impacted his marriage. His wife, Anya (Eileen O\u2019Higgins), is sore, shattered and struggling to breastfeed: sex has disappeared out of the window and Ash feels sidelined and unsure of his role. There\u2019s growing rivalry between the grandparents too, with Anya\u2019s mother on the scene but Ash\u2019s mum, Jane, at arm\u2019s length.Significantly for the drama, Louis\u2019s birth has opened up unresolved feelings about Ash\u2019s babyhood relationship with Jane (Lucy Black), who appears to have suffered from serious postnatal depression. The cord that ties Ash to Jane is perhaps the one under most scrutiny here.Sheibani writes with sympathy, a good ear and admirable frankness about some of the tougher moments of early parenthood: the rows, the resentments, the jealousies. He also bravely explores difficult territory such as the way depression in a parent might affect a child. And in the playwright\u2019s spare, intimate staging \u2014 on a carpeted playing space, with cellist Colin Alexander shaping the mood \u2014 Shamji gives a touching performance as a decent, caring guy in the grip of confusing, conflicting and sometimes ugly emotions.Black is good too as the brisk, brittle Jane, while O\u2019Higgins deftly suggests the turbulent feelings of a new mother bewildered by her husband\u2019s behaviour. The play is held back, however, by the fact that both women feel underdeveloped as characters \u2014 even given the fact that the focus here is the man\u2019s experience. Meanwhile the impact of postnatal depression needs exploring in greater depth than is possible here. It\u2019s a tender, thoughtful piece confronting difficult issues honestly, but it feels as though it just needs another layer.\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2606\u2606To May 25, bushtheatre.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The title of Bijan Sheibani\u2019s new play refers to that most fundamental of lifelines: the umbilical cord. In this short, sometimes painfully honest drama, Sheibani gives<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26225,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26224\/revisions\/26225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}