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.”
The Game of Love and Chai is at The Tara Theatre 1st – 24th March 2018 before embarking on tour.
