Tara Arts Presents World Premiere of Nigel Planer's THE GAME OF LOVE AND CHAI
By: Stephi Wild Jan. 22, 2018
Actor, comedian, novelist and playwright Nigel Planer (The Young Ones, Filthy Rich & Catflap) is to team up with Tara Arts' artistic director Jatinder Verma in a brand-new adaptation of Marivaux's classic French farce. Transporting the story of a betrothal in 1730s France to twenty-first century England, The Game of Love and Chai centers around a marriage between two modern day Asian families combining familiar French farce with contemporary comedy and Bollywood song and dance.
Kamala wants her daughter Rani to marry successful but emotionally awkward businessman Raj. Rani bristles at going down the conventional route and arranges a test for Raj. She convinces her cousin Sita to swap places and pretend to be the suitable bride - unaware that Raj has come up with the same scheme with his driver, Nitin!
Nigel Planer said "I've been hooked on Indian cinema since 1973. I love its range, its daring and its ridiculous sense of fun. So when I came across Marivaux's play - a mistaken identity comedy about the foolish things we do when we fall in love - the connection seemed obvious. With Marivaux, as with so-called 'Bollywood', the main thing is to completely abandon oneself and let foolishness and love take over."
Jatinder Verma said "Nigel Planer's version of Marivaux's classic farce brings to the fore my abiding interest in connecting the worlds of East and West - connections that have enriched the theatrical cultures of both halves of the planet. Nigel's new play brilliantly re-imagines Marivaux for today's multicultural audiences, bringing a touch of India to this comic clash of passion and class."
Nigel Planer is best known for his role as Neil in the BBC comedy The Young Ones. He is a founding member of The London Comedy Store and the Comic Strip group, and has written comedy books, novels, plays and scripts. He has worked extensively in theatre, film and television as an actor with stage credits including original London casts of Evita, We Will Rock You, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Chicago, which returns to London this year.
Artistic director of Tara Theatre Jatinder Verma was the first Asian or Black director at the National Theatre, where he staged his own adaptation of Molière's Tartuffe. His other productions at the National Theatre include The Little Clay Cart and The Black Album. He directed the first touring show of Black Theatre Live, Macbeth. For Tara he has directed over 100 shows, including Dick Whittington Goes Bollywood. He was awarded an MBE for services to diversity in the arts in 2017.
Marivaux, along with Goldsmith and Sheridan, was one of the first Western playwrights to be produced in India in the late-18th century. This new production forms part of Tara Arts Binglish project, exploring the theatrical connections between India and the West, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Re-opened in September 2016 by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Tara Theatre has garnered a range of awards, including The Stage Sustainability Award, London Construction Best Project Design Award & the London Architecture Culture & Community Award. It has also been shortlisted for the World Architecture & the Peter Brook Empty Space Awards last year. Tara Arts was founded in 1977 by Artistic Director Jatinder Verma, along with Sunil Saggar, Ovais Kadri, Praveen Bahl and Vijay Shaunak.
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