Marriage Material at Lyric Hammersmith Review
Kiran Landa and Anoushka Deshmukh in Marriage Material. Photo by Helen Murray
Written by Philip for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Sathnam Sanghera’s critically acclaimed novel Marriage Material is transformed for the stage by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti in a co-production between Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Birmingham Rep. A story told about one family in two parts in two decades with years of loss, new beginnings and change separating them.
Mr and Mrs Bains are juggling running a successful corner shop in Wolverhampton and bringing up two very different daughters. When tragedy strikes and Mr Bains is taken ill, it is up to his wife to keep her family together. Daughters Kamaljit and Surinder are destined to take different paths in life. Kamaljit is seen as a simple girl destined to be a wife to anyone who will have her, whereas Surinder is incredibly bright and pretty. Her teacher and later her mother see much more for her in life. Luckily for Kamaljit, a young family friend from a lower social class who lives with the Bains, Tanvir dotes on her. Surinder, too, has an admirer in the form of Jim, a young chocolate salesman. However, everything comes crashing down around the family when yet another tragedy befalls Mr Bains. The choices made at this moment alter the future of this family forever.
Act Two jumps us forward in time. We meet Arjan Bains, the son of Kamaljit and Tanvir, who is pulled back to Wolverhampton from London due to a new tragedy. The play has many common themes and threads that transcend the ages. Tradition, family, love, culture clash, loss and racism all crop up time and time again, but thankfully love prevails over the loss and hate.
Kaur Bhatti’s book is witty and familiar. You catch glimpses of life in every family, regardless of race or creed. She tackles everything head-on. The culture clash between the Sikh community and the White British community crops up frequently. From interracial and intercultural relationships and how the Bains react, to the out-and-out racism they face every day and an unwillingness to assimilate from some members of the family due to sins of the past and a fear of the unknown. Every moment is dealt with sensitively but is filled with truth. ‘Marriage Material’ does have its slow moments, though and does feel a little long. It could do with some streamlining in places to make sure the messages are as strong as possible.
Iqbal Khan also makes sure to inject truth into his direction. It had a real ‘kitchen sink drama’ feel to it. Raw and honest work. The actors also made sure to play the realism element to make sure everything feels cohesive. The whole cast were brilliant. Kiran Landa and Anoushka Deshmukh as sisters Kamaljit and Surinder were delightful. They had great chemistry and clearly have a lovely rapport with each other. They had a tough job having to age up considerably between acts, but played it very well. Jaz Singh Deol was wonderful as Mr Bains and the protagonist of the second act, Arjan. He showed true range and depth, especially as Arjan. Omar Malik was also very likeable as Tanvir and certainly added humour with his Ranjit. In fact, everyone did such a wonderful job bringing the piece to life.
One thing I do keep coming back to, though, is just how long Marriage Material is. At 155 minutes, for a modern play, it is very long indeed. Some scenes and moments felt stilted and unnecessary to the plot. It could just do with some tightening up.
Overall, the play had a whole lot of heart. A tale of change and one of hope. With a little reworking, I can see this being a real winner.
‘Marriage Material’ runs at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until 21st June.
★★★.5
