Marriage Material is a joint production between the Birmingham REP and the Lyric Hammersmith, written by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti and based on the novel by Sathnam Sanghera.
It is a hugely ambitious production which aims to cover a sprawling multi-generational saga about the changing lives of a Wolverhampton-based Punjabi-Sikh family.
The two main characters are sisters Kamaljit and Surinder Bains played with undeniable passion by Kiran Landa and Anoushka Deshmukh – which they certainly need as they go from teenagers to near seniors over the course of the story. We follow their loves, challenges, disappointments, triumphs and inevitable brushes with racism. It is an almost impossible task to be consistently believable but both actresses have their moments of splendour.
Avita Jay is the one character who is never a caricature; indeed she is always compelling as the girls’ mother and family matriarch Mrs. Bains.
She is also the main custodian of the omnipresent family corner shop.
Mrs Bains disapproves of Surinder – the clever daughter from whom she becomes estranged – but is content with Kamaljit’s arranged marriage to Sikh traditionalist Tanvir (Omar Malik).Set to a background of 60’s music, I found Act One easier to follow than Act Two, where it sometimes got a little confusing as to what was happening to whom. The mixed culture relationships especially deserved more exploration,
The challenge of bringing this novel to the stage is undeniably humungous and there is inspirational direction from Iqbal Khan who creates some poignant scenes and provides many laugh-out-loud moments from the simplest things.
The ending is glorious with a beautiful traditional wedding spectacular, sisters reunited and sending us home feeling we had perhaps been watching a Punjabi pantomime complete with villains and heroes – sorry, make those heroines.
Marriage Material runs until next Saturday (July 5). Click here for times, tickets and more information.
