MEET THE MUKHERJEES. To 24 May.
Bolton.
MEET THE MUKHERJEES
by Tanika Gupta.
Octagon Theatre To 24 May 2008.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm
Audio-described 21 May.
BSL Signed 22 May.
Runs 2hr 30min One interval.
TICKETS: 01204 520661.
www.octagonbolton.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 17 May.
Some hilarious moments in a comic love-affair with inter-ethnic tensions.
It’s possible to criticise aspects of Tanika Gupta’s new play, but very difficult to dislike it as a warm-hearted romantic comedy. An underlying sweetness is given a sharp taste by the family hostility between bus driver Neville and his wife Leticia, Caribbean, Christian and British, and widowed Chitra, equally British, but Asian and Hindu.
More fundamental is the mistrust Chitra’s solicitor daughter Anita has for Neville and Leticia’s son Aaron. He’s just landed a job as a photographer, but his background’s in philandering with blondes. And now he says he loves her.
Even these young people (Anita’s just hit 30 and being unmarried’s an issue), assimilated into mainstream society (the play’s easiest-going relationship is Anita’s friendship with the White Keeley), are touched by prejudicial notions about each other. And, given Anita’s sense of purpose and Aaron’s element of immaturity, it’s unsurprising they go through rocky patches.
It’s right the Octagon, in its celebratory 40th season should move on from recent Jim Cartwright and Bill Naughton revivals to a play that reflects modern Bolton’s range of population, even if Gupta has come up with something that, beneath the surface, is like nothing so much as an old-fashioned Hollywood romantic comedy, combined with the social gloss of a Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.
There’s the ghost of Chita’s husband providing wise advice and a warm glow; his surviving brother Raj, so ridiculous he can be assaulted without a thought of racial violence intruding, and Aaron’s illegitimate daughter, with her directness and the wisdom of naivety. She provides a beautiful end, after a fine farcical climax, chattering on as any young teenager might, regardless of class, colour or creed.
Despite a few unsteady moments, Mark Babych’s production builds the laughs, though it can’t disguise the weakness in the character of Raj, or Leticia’s limited role. But it’s all acted with sympathetic comic energy, while Patrick Connellan’s set allows quick-movement between Gupta’s often short scenes. Pooja Ghai’s comic, sensible Chitra offsets Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi, alert, assertive and smart as Anita, and Mark Springer’s Aaron, losing his opening male confidence, in an overall enjoyable evening .
Chitra: Pooja Ghai.
Neville: Wyllie Longmore.
Anita: Rokhsaneh Ghawam-Shahidi.
Fran: Keeley Forsyth.
Aaron: Mark Springer.
Leticia: Anni Domingo.
Montu/Raj: Nicholas Khan
India: Ayesha Gwilt.
Director: Mark Babych.
Designer: Patrick Connellan.
Lighting: Brent Lees.
Sound: Andy Smith.
2008-05-18 12:27:46