“Sometimes when I look at him, I feel like he’s me. But if the baby is me, then who am I? You?”
Everything has changed with the arrival of this baby.
Amir hovers as his mother cradles her grandson for the very first time, mesmerised. The bag full of handmade baby clothes she brought with her lies at her feet.
After she has gone, Amir watches as his wife feeds their newborn son, so close, that they almost seem intertwined. Mother and son look so complete together, while Amir begins to feel a growing chasm separating him from not just them, but from his mother too.
When the relentless crying, sleepless nights, and hushed arguments start to take their toll, Amir must grapple with the puzzle of how to be a father, a husband, and a son - trying to place together the pieces that don’t quite fit. All he knows for sure is that he must not repeat the past.
The Cord gives a very relatable and frank insight into the many challenges of being a parent and a child, no matter how old you are. This evocative new play at the Bush Theatre with a cast including Irfan Shamji as Amir and reunites Olivier award-winning writer and director Bijan Sheibani with the creative team behind his 2019 Bush Theatre hit, The Arrival.