The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Festival Theatre Edinburgh 31st May 2023 Review
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh this week (Tue 30 May to Sat 3 June), and if you are a fan of the original book, “These Foolish Things” by Deborah Moggach (2004) or the film (2011) then you should like this stage production.
Even if you are not familiar with this story in any format, this is just a well-produced work of theatre full of humour, good times, and sad times, and a cast of characters that on the surface appear to be classic stereotypes of many British (well, English) people. First appearances can be deceptive though, and that is one of the strong points of this story, finding out just who these new guests at the Marigold Retirement Hotel really are (even if they do not know themselves).
To make a production like this work well on stage you need to create a world in which cast and audiences can become immersed, and visually that starts with a classic design stage set making clever use of perspective lines to create that look of a hotel that has obviously known grander days in its lifetime, a building with both history and personality. Here the building itself is as much a part of our story as any of the people living and working in it. Here, designer Colin Richmond has achieved all of these things whilst also creating new spaces and allowing our imagination to take us to places outside of the hotel whenever the script requires it.
It can be all too easy at times to forget just how much music and sound contribute to the world that any story takes place in, and here composer Kuljit Bhamra has merged traditional and contemporary music into a soundscape of Classical Ragas and British Bangra.
The reasons for the first wave of British guests arriving at the hotel are many, and here a cast with the stage experience necessary to bring to life all of these people and their very different reasons for arriving in India make this gentle exploration of life’s unexpected opportunities at any age a pleasure to watch and listen to. The cast for this production are
Belinda Lang (Madge), Paul Nicholas (Douglas), Tessa Peake-Jones (Evelyn), Tiran Aakel (Mr Gupta), Paola Dionisotti (Dorothy), Rekha John-Cheriyan (Mrs Kapoor), Nishad More (Sonny Kapoor), Graham Seed (Norman), Shila Iqbal (Sahani, Kerena Jagpal (Kamila), Harmage Singh Kalirai (Jimmy), Eileen Battye (Jean), Marlene Sidaway (Muriel), and Anant Varman (Tikal).
Yes, some compromises between book, film, and stage have to be made as there is not the luxury of exploring in detail the past lives of our residents and their inner thoughts, as you can do in a book or a film. Here, however, original book author and playwright Deborah Moggach clearly understands these compromises, and a lively script that keeps our story moving along compensates well for these losses and always keeps the narrative moving forward.
It is always, I think, unfair to select specific characters and performances from an ensemble work like this, but here the script has two very strong characters with a wonderful dynamic between an over possessive mother (with a few secrets of her own hidden away) and her son that many people will recognise and perhaps even empathise with. This combination is, it seems, universal across all cultures and Rekha John-Cheriyan brings so much fun and humour to her role as Mrs Kapoor. This for me really is the best role of this show for anyone to play. Nishad More as her loving but long suffering son, Sonny, is the perfect person for this comedy double act.
In the end, this is a story of exploration, of hope, and discovering that new opportunities can come at any time in your life, young or old. Also it is a clear statement of who you start out as, who you have been, can all change. We can all realise who we really are and where that might take us, and age is no barrier to this metamorphosis.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a work that with its gentle humour gives a message to many, and everyone I saw was leaving the theatre in good spirits this evening.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Even if you are not familiar with this story in any format, this is just a well-produced work of theatre full of humour, good times, and sad times, and a cast of characters that on the surface appear to be classic stereotypes of many British (well, English) people. First appearances can be deceptive though, and that is one of the strong points of this story, finding out just who these new guests at the Marigold Retirement Hotel really are (even if they do not know themselves).
To make a production like this work well on stage you need to create a world in which cast and audiences can become immersed, and visually that starts with a classic design stage set making clever use of perspective lines to create that look of a hotel that has obviously known grander days in its lifetime, a building with both history and personality. Here the building itself is as much a part of our story as any of the people living and working in it. Here, designer Colin Richmond has achieved all of these things whilst also creating new spaces and allowing our imagination to take us to places outside of the hotel whenever the script requires it.
It can be all too easy at times to forget just how much music and sound contribute to the world that any story takes place in, and here composer Kuljit Bhamra has merged traditional and contemporary music into a soundscape of Classical Ragas and British Bangra.
The reasons for the first wave of British guests arriving at the hotel are many, and here a cast with the stage experience necessary to bring to life all of these people and their very different reasons for arriving in India make this gentle exploration of life’s unexpected opportunities at any age a pleasure to watch and listen to. The cast for this production are
Belinda Lang (Madge), Paul Nicholas (Douglas), Tessa Peake-Jones (Evelyn), Tiran Aakel (Mr Gupta), Paola Dionisotti (Dorothy), Rekha John-Cheriyan (Mrs Kapoor), Nishad More (Sonny Kapoor), Graham Seed (Norman), Shila Iqbal (Sahani, Kerena Jagpal (Kamila), Harmage Singh Kalirai (Jimmy), Eileen Battye (Jean), Marlene Sidaway (Muriel), and Anant Varman (Tikal).
Yes, some compromises between book, film, and stage have to be made as there is not the luxury of exploring in detail the past lives of our residents and their inner thoughts, as you can do in a book or a film. Here, however, original book author and playwright Deborah Moggach clearly understands these compromises, and a lively script that keeps our story moving along compensates well for these losses and always keeps the narrative moving forward.
It is always, I think, unfair to select specific characters and performances from an ensemble work like this, but here the script has two very strong characters with a wonderful dynamic between an over possessive mother (with a few secrets of her own hidden away) and her son that many people will recognise and perhaps even empathise with. This combination is, it seems, universal across all cultures and Rekha John-Cheriyan brings so much fun and humour to her role as Mrs Kapoor. This for me really is the best role of this show for anyone to play. Nishad More as her loving but long suffering son, Sonny, is the perfect person for this comedy double act.
In the end, this is a story of exploration, of hope, and discovering that new opportunities can come at any time in your life, young or old. Also it is a clear statement of who you start out as, who you have been, can all change. We can all realise who we really are and where that might take us, and age is no barrier to this metamorphosis.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a work that with its gentle humour gives a message to many, and everyone I saw was leaving the theatre in good spirits this evening.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com