Large scale, well financed live professional theatre is something of a rarity in Aotearoa these days. I went along to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. My review…
As entertainment, Marigold Hotel is akin to a summer break in a Raj hill station; uncomplicated (seemingly), warm, comfortable and with enough going on around the place to keep an audience alert.
Unlike the hotel it portrays, though, the theatre production is superb, blessed with some fine and convincing acting. It delivers on a gentle message of age, need, love and care.
Largely based on the 2011 movie of the same name, it tells of a band of English old folks heading out to Bangalore (in the movie it was Jaipur), planning on permanently checking into a hotel to pass the rest of their days.
The Marigold has seen better days, and its widow owner Mrs Kapoor (played marvellously by Sudeepta Vyas) and her son (Shaan Kesha) can barely hold it together. Developers lurk and a possible grim future faces the refugee English.
The hotel set on stage is magnificent, a piece of art that the actors appeared to enjoy. For the audience in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland though it was even more, for Marigold Hotel sat centre stage at the 90-year-old Civic, a much loved and admired Maharaja’s palace of a place. Its starry ceiling (even with a shooting star) has drawn awe-struck smiles for generations.
While the theme of the play is recognisable in most countries, it sits uneasily in Aotearoa: it’s essentially a grumpy old English comedy about how bad things have become in Britain. The script makes it plain that the problems are the fault of too many migrants. Listening to whining Brits is not the kind of thing that would attract me. Throw in some cliche themes - like the evils of India’s caste system and how good things were in the Raj - and there is a potential for something of a turn off. Fortunately it is saved by the simplicity of the basic themes of loneliness, grief and a kind of British stiff upper lip optimism. This was delivered, initially, by Madge, played by the big star from Britain, Rula Lenska.
For an Aotearoa audience, the attraction is likely to be the cleverly acted Indian side. Vyas, playing Mrs Kapoor, brings to this stage over a generation of demanding Indian plays with the Prayas theatre group. It shows in her power on stage. And she is a bossy mother to perfection. Kesha as Sonny is the perfect counterbalance. The Indian players, Ravi Gurunathan, Alvin Maharaj, Harmage Singh Kalirai and Dhiya Redding, brought real class to the show.
The English characters were professional, and yet somewhat less endearing. They were a grumpy lot, and in the first half of the play, it was somewhat tiresome. They absolved themselves with a lively second half. My favourite character, Muriel, was finely played by Annie Ruth. The dominating Jean was something of a dream role, filled well by Helen Moulder. Cathy Downes (as Dorothy) and Georgina Monro (as Evelyn) were remarkably good as sensible women.
The English chaps, Edward Newborn (as Douglas) and Paul Barrett (as Norman), found themselves in roles which were never going to greatly endear them to an audience.
Together the players in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel produced a simple, enjoyable show that left the full house audience happy. It would be unfair to pick out best actors, Oscar style, for it was plain they and their production team worked to highlight overall talent.
Footnote: My personal pleasure at Marigold Hotel was tested against actual experience. A couple of times I stayed at the 240 year old Fairlawn Hotel in downtown Kolkata, where its owner and manager Violet Smith sat at the front desk and greeted all customers. She would endorse Mrs Kapoor.
©Michael J Field