Dulat Issabekov

In the early years of Kazakhstan’s independence, a village is getting ready to celebrate a wedding - until a shameful secret about the groom is brought to light. As the groom’s hapless parents and sharp-tongued relatives try to save face, all hell breaks loose. With cameos from a spiky village elder, a concussed poet, a TV hypnotist and someone who may or may not be a doctor, Dulat Issabekov’s play Bonaparte’s Wedding is a caustic and entertaining look at how Kazakhs tried to reclaim their customs and politics at the end of the Soviet era.