Reimagined 19th Century Classic GELIN to be Presented at Canal Café Theatre

An all-female creative team reimagines a classic 19th-century Turkish play about arranged marriage, swapping the Ottoman Empire for modern, multicultural London in Gelin.

Gelin (meaning Bride, in Turkish) is a hilariously chaotic, charming, and honest new play exploring the complexities women face across cultures, from family expectations to the fragile but powerful bonds of female friendships.

Gelin’s all-female creative team reimagine İbrahim Şinasi’s 1859 comedy, an ironic critique of arranged marriage practices, updating the setting to contemporary London. Giving a voice to the unheard female characters in Şair Evlenmesi (The Wedding of a Poet) in a professional production for the first time, the international cast reflect the experiences of London’s substantial diaspora population.

Themes from Şinasi’s piece, such as generational clashes, gender norms, cultural expectations, and matchmaking customs, find new resonance more than 160 years later in a fresh script that reframes the action with today’s pop culture, humour, and digital-first relationships.

When her overbearing mother arranges a marriage that she doesn’t want, Aylin sends her Best Friend in her place—only for it to backfire when her future husband falls for the imposter. Gelin asks whether a woman can be the mükemmel gelin—the perfect bride—without lying about herself to make everyone happy.

London-based Turkish actor, director, and creative producer Duru Agirbas co-produces and performs in Gelin, bringing together a team of theatre makers from Turkey, the UK, Portugal, Brazil, and China. Agirbas has developed the play in collaboration with emerging writer Estelle Warner and director Erica Rosa Lima.