I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through another door - or I'll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.
Rabindranath Tagore
HOBSON'S CHOICE BY HAROLD BRIGHOUSE ADAPTED BY TANIKA GUPTA
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
31 May 2019 - 6 July 2019
Due to personal reasons, I had to step away as director from this production just before rehearsals. My role as director began as dramaturge for a year on the script with Tanika Gupta. I then assembled the entire creative team to execute the vision for the production. Vicky Richardson and I auditioned and hired the cast. The blueprint and foundation of the set, costume, light and sound design were all established and ready for implementation enabling a seamless handover for the incoming director. The show went on to receive rave reviews and multiple awards/nominations.
★★★★★ What’s on Stage, Morning Star, North West End
★★★★ The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Stage, A Younger Theatre, Quays Life
TANIKA GUPTA’S SPARKLING NEW VERSION OF THIS CLASSIC 1916 COMEDY FINDS A NEW HOME AMID THE 1980S UGANDAN-ASIAN RAG TRADE.
‘It’s a man’s world and you girls should keep within your boundaries and do as you’re told’
If tailor Hari Hobson isn’t bossing his daughters about in his Northern Quarter workshop, he’s putting the world to rights in his local pub. His oldest daughter, Durga, is the brains behind the operation. But when Hobson says that Durga is too valuable to lose and must give up all idea of getting married, she takes her fate into her own hands and opens a rival shop nearby.
Cutting through generational divides, it shows that in family life, some stories never get old – and some things never change.
Cast: Esh Alladi, Raj Bajaj, Tony Hirst, Safiyya Ingar, Tony Jayawardena, Maimuna Memon, Shalini Peiris, Avin Shah, Gurjeet Singh, Yasmine Wilde.
Set and Costume Design: Rosa Maggiora
Sound Design and Composer: Arun Ghosh
Lighting Design: Matt Haskins
Movement and Choreography: Jenny Ogilvie
Fight Directors: RC Annie
Voice Coach: Edda Sharpe
Casting Director: Vicky Richardson
Assistant Director: Lucy Curtis
Assistant Design: Niku Archer
BSL Interpreter: Siobhan Rocks