HOBSON'S CHOICE To 11 October.
London/Tour
HOBSON'S CHOICE
by Harold Brighouse adapted by Tanika Gupta
Young Vic to 9 August 2003
Mon-Sat 7.30pm
Runs: 2hr 20min One interval and short excursion to 2nd venue:
Tkts: 020 7928 6363
Review: Kim Durham: 5th July 2003
Tanika Gupta's Asian updating of a repertory classic makes for a breezingly engaging entertainment.
Tanika Gupta's adaptation of this solid repertory war-horse might itself almost serve as a cheerful metaphor for the new multicultural Britain. Grafting contemporary Asian life onto the indigenous stock of Brighouse's classic tale gives it a new lease of life.
From the incense-laden walkways of the Young Vic to the novelty programme and Ultz's colourfully realistic set, Richard Jones' production promises a fun night out. And by and large, despite an occasional uncertainty of tone there is some very heavy-handed sit-com acting going on it delivers.
As a picture of current Asian realities it's all probably as authentic as chicken tikka marsala. But taken as a breezy entertainment, there is much to enjoy.
Instead of Victorian patriarch Henry Hobson and his Salford boot and shoe emporium, we have first generation Indian immigrant Hari Hobson and his brightly stocked Salford tailor's shop. Gupta's adaptation sticks closely to the original, but gets good comic mileage from its reimagined setting. When recent arrival, Ali Mossop, her version of the downtrodden but talented Willy Mossop, is asked why he works so loyally for Hobson, he responds: He got me the work permit and he's got my passport.
It is in the reinvention of Mossop, that the adaptation is at its most telling. While Yasmin Wilde's spirited and determined Durga Hobson still drives the action, her bid for business independence no longer carries the radical resonance that it did in the original.
But in the journey of Richard Sumitro's beautifully judged Ali, from nervous dhoti-wearing Bengali immigrant to suavely hair-gelled fashion supremo, there is a celebration of the new wave of hip self-made Asian entrepreneurs that rings a contemporary bell.
The evening includes a brief excursion to a second venue for the Mossops' humble wedding reception. The garden shed, which is their new home, is modestly closed to us as the couple uncomfortably approaches the moment of connubial intimacy, leaving only a small gap through which its beginnings can be observed by the deliciously coy intertwining of feet. One of the many winning production touches that make this an engagingly witty take on an old classic.
Ruby Hobson: Paven Virk
Sunita Hobson: Vineeta Rishi
Durga Hobson: Yasmin Wilde
Steve Prosser: Gareth Farr
Hari Hobson: Paul Bhattacharjee
Doctor Bannerji: Shelley King
Tubby Mohammed: Agron Biba
Ali Mossop: Richard Sumitro
Jim Heeler: Martin Walsh
Pinky Khan: Zenab Khan
Robbie Ash: James Kristian
Director: Richard Jones
Design: Ultz
Lighting: Matthew Richardson
Sound: Crispian Covell
Voice/Dialect: Neil Swain
2003-07-06 22:39:31