Naima Zitan of Théâtre Aquarium is everywhere: checking the tilt of a floodlight, adjusting levers on the sound table, coaching the cast backstage. Local men finish setting up folding chairs but there are not enough seats for the 120 people who stream in.
Each of the 11 amendments to the Family Code has been turned into a slapstick skit. When a young man asks a girl’s father for her hand in marriage, her father explains that his daughter herself must decide. The suitor is flummoxed. Twisting his hands and scuffing his feet, he even promises that “You will be free to go out and see your friends!” The women laugh and applaud.
Scene Two: the couple has not been able to have children and the husband confides to
his buddy that he is considering divorce. His friend suggests that the man visit a doctor to see if it’s his own fault that they have been unable to conceive. The thunderstruck husband has never considered that he might be responsible for the couple’s predicament. The women in the audience chortle and clap.
Scene Three: a woman judge asks whether the wife has agreed to divorce. The man frowns in frustration and the couple leaves the courtroom for private conversation. The husband levies a long list of complaints. The wife suddenly shouts, “What are you talking about? I have done nothing but work for you all these years. Washed your dishes. See my red hands?” The women cheer and stomp.