Cord (NHB Modern Plays) (eBook)

Ash and Anya were happy, just the two of them. Then the baby came. Ash has spent the first two weeks of his son's life trying to work out where he fits. He watches his mother holding her grandchild for the first time, mesmerised by the mystery and delight of a new life. After she leaves, Ash watches Anya feeding their son - so close, almost intertwined. As sleepless nights, relentless crying and hushed arguments take their toll, a storm starts to grow as a chasm widens between Ash and his son, his wife and even his own mother. Lifting the roof off one family's home, The Cord is a brutally honest and moving insight into the challenging truths of family dynamics. It premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2024, written and directed by Bijan Sheibani. 'Daringly original... has the tinge of lived experience... excellent on the fractious micro-aggressions that can abruptly blossom into furious rows between a couple juggling what is simultaneously the wondrous, commonplace and often brain-destroying reality of new parenthood... feels instantly recognisable and true' - Telegraph 'Acutely observed and often searingly familiar... a valuable piece not just for any new parent or grandparent, but for anyone navigating current relationships through the ghosts of past ones... feels both universal and deeply personal, highlighting a rarely-spoken truth of parenting: children have a way of finding us out' - WhatsOnStage 'Powerfully intimate and highly relatable... very well-observed: it feels like a fly-on-the-wall documentary of the blurry first few months of being a parent. It nails the exhaustion, the rows, the anxiety, the joy - and the slow tectonic realisation that the parent you will be is not necessarily the one you want to be, and is coloured, shadowed, by the baby you were... sensitive and intelligent' - Time Out 'Tackles the under-explored topic of male post-partum depression with bravery and nuance' - The Stage

Bijan Sheibani is a freelance theatre, opera and film director, and playwright. As a playwright, his work includes The Cord (Bush Theatre, London, 2024) and The Arrival (Bush Theatre, 2019). As a theatre director, his credits include Till the Stars Come Down (National Theatre), The Brothers Size (Young Vic), Dance Nation (Almeida), Barber Shop Chronicles (National Theatre) and Circle Mirror Transformation (Home Manchester). He was an associate director of the National Theatre from 2010-2015, and artistic director of ATC from 2007-2010. He won the James Menzies-Kitchen Award for Young Directors in 2003 and held the John S Cohen Bursary at the National Theatre Studio from 2003-2004. He was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2010 for Best Director for his production of Our Class, and his production of Gone Too Far! by Bola Agbaje won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre in 2008. The Brothers Size won Best International Production at the Barcelona Critics Circle Awards 2008 and was nominated for an Olivier Award in the same year. Bijan's production of Nothing for Glyndebourne was nominated for a 2017 Southbank Sky Arts Award for Best Opera.

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Ash and Anya were happy, just the two of them. Then the baby came. Ash has spent the first two weeks of his son's life trying to work out where he fits. He watches his mother holding her grandchild for the first time, mesmerised by the mystery and delight of a new life. After she leaves, Ash watches Anya feeding their son so close, almost intertwined. As sleepless nights, relentless crying and hushed arguments take their toll, a storm starts to grow as a chasm widens between Ash and his son, his wife and even his own mother. Lifting the roof off one family's home, The Cord is a brutally honest and moving insight into the challenging truths of family dynamics. It premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2024, written and directed by Bijan Sheibani. 'Daringly original has the tinge of lived experience excellent on the fractious micro-aggressions that can abruptly blossom into furious rows between a couple juggling what is simultaneously the wondrous, commonplace and often brain-destroying reality of new parenthood feels instantly recognisable and true' - Telegraph'Acutely observed and often searingly familiar a valuable piece not just for any new parent or grandparent, but for anyone navigating current relationships through the ghosts of past ones feels both universal and deeply personal, highlighting a rarely-spoken truth of parenting: children have a way of finding us out' - WhatsOnStage'Powerfully intimate and highly relatable very well-observed: it feels like a fly-on-the-wall documentary of the blurry first few months of being a parent. It nails the exhaustion, the rows, the anxiety, the joy and the slow tectonic realisation that the parent you will be is not necessarily the one you want to be, and is coloured, shadowed, by the baby you were sensitive and intelligent' - Time Out'Tackles the under-explored topic of male post-partum depression with bravery and nuance' - The Stage