Review by Paul Towers, 2/11/22
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach
Directed by Lucy Bailey
Produced by Simon friend
At Curve til Saturday 5 November 2022
“Feel good theatre for a wet November”
This is a star-studded stage production of the beloved film and TV series by Deborah Moggach based on her novel These Foolish Things.
Taking inspiration from all the tales of ex-pats moving to the Costa Brava this takes it one stage further as a group of retirees up sticks and move to Bangalore in India. Their motivation is that it is warm and cheap.
Some just want to bask in the sun and wait for the inevitable end while others look upon it as a new adventure.
Heading up the cast is acting royalty, Hayley Mills as Evelyn, a shy, diffident widow who doesn’t know how to emerge from the shadow of her deceased husband. Alongside her is Rula Lenska as Madge, a statuesque redhead looking for a maharajah to whisk her off her feet and keep her in the manner to which she wants to be accustomed.
The rest of the cast of characters each have their own stories to tell, some happy, some sad but all thrown together in this exotic mix of cultures in a strange land.
While the locals are, initially, stereotyped as servile second class citizens it quickly becomes obvious that they have much to teach the ex-pats.
There are lots of laughs right from the start as well as pointed digs at colonialism, poverty, the caste system, old age and call centres! But at the heart of the story is how different people deal with loss and old age in their own ways.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is at Curve until Saturday 5th November and then touring until it hits the West End next year
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