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REVIEW
✭✭✭✭☆ 4/5
​The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Tue 2 May - Sat 6 May 2023
Many a novel has gone from page to stage. Equally, many plays have gone from stage to screen. Except in this particular case. When Deborah Moggach penned her novel, ‘These Foolish Things’  which tells the story of a group of British retirees who set out on a new life in India, she could  never have imagined that her book would later inspire not one, but TWO feature films, a TV series,  and now, a much anticipated stage play. ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ has literally become a  21st Century phenomenon, and a franchise all of it’s own.  

In a very informative programme note, Miss Moggach says that she has felt for a long time that  her much loved collection of characters have been waiting in the wings for their chance to step on  stage and she herself has written the play.  Here, at last, they have landed at the Cliffs Pavilion for one week only. 
It is clear from the outset that no expense has been spared to bring that famous Exotic Marigold Hotel to life.  The whole stage is filled with one of the most beautiful settings ever created for a  stage play. Complete with moorish arches and pillars, staircases and doors leading off to areas  we never see, Colin Richmond’s creation is truly breathtaking to behold. The faded splendour of a once great building, now somewhat dilapidated and in need of decoration, is beautifully caught.  Sunshine and moonlight filter in and reflect invitingly too. 

Most tempting of all is the prospect of a large cast of familiar faces from tv and film including Tessa Peake-Jones, Belinda Lang and Paul Nicholas, to name a few.  It is rare indeed to see so many  well loved actors of such quality on one stage at the same time. 
 

For those who may not be familiar with the story, recently widowed Mrs Kapoor and her son are  struggling to keep their failing hotel going. The building is literally falling down and in desperate  need of modernisation. All seems pretty hopeless, until Sunny has the idea to turn the hotel into a  retirement residence for British ex-pats. Before long, the first plane load of guests arrive, and for  the next couple of hours, their stories unfold as they settle down and get to know their new  surroundings and of course, each other.  

Meanwhile, we get to know the Indian characters, who own or work at the hotel. Their lives and customs seem very harsh and restricting. Mrs Kapoor has Sunny, her son, firmly at her beck and call, and is not about to lose him to a girlfriend. In these roles, Rebka John-Cheriyan and Nishad More work together very convincingly and make a great double act.  As Sunny ruefully states,  “Behind every Indian Man is his mother!” 

The play has many short, snapshot-like scenes. Comings and goings abound. People come through the lobby on their way out somewhere, or on their way back. There is a lot of reported  action, rather than being able to see things for ourselves. The only time we actually escape the  hotel environment, is when Evelyn (Tessa Peak-Jones) leaves the hotel for the first time, and sets  out to find the call centre which becomes pivotal in her story. She is nervous of going out alone,  and the hustle and bustle of the crowds is neatly conveyed by the actors carrying chairs and  tables for the next scene. It is a much needed change of pace too. Film can change locations so much easier than a stage play can. In this respect, the play can only do so much. 

However it is the people we want to know about, and each of them gets time to tell their story. We  have glamorous Madge, still full of energy and desperate to find herself a rich Maharaja. Belinda  Lang, looking fabulous, plays her with gusto, and really knows how to get her laughs. There is  eagle-eyed Jean, (Eileen Battye) jealously guarding her husband Douglas (Paul Nicholas) from the  attentions of the other ladies. 

Another quality performance comes from Paola Dionisotti as Dorothy, who has come to India to  find her lost childhood. This is the most moving performance of the night in it’s quiet power.  In the role of retired cleaner Muriel, Marlene Sidaway sweeps all before her. Now in her mid eighties, she is rarely offstage, and has the energy of someone half her age. A real joy to watch.

By the end of the play, everyone has found their fulfillment in their own way, and their joy is  celebrated with a traditional dance, bringing the evening to an uplifting conclusion. 
​

Although at times a little lacking in energy and pace, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel will nevertheless entertain everyone who sees it, with many laughs along the way.  

Review by Andrew Walters

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  • Home
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    • Main feature writer - Kim Tobin
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