Cast Announced for Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's new play, Khandan

PRESS RELEASE

Cast Announced for Khandan (Family) at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Royal Court Theatre

The cast has been announced for Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s new play, Khandan (Family) at Birmingham Repertory Theatre (22 May to 7 June) and Royal Court Theatre (11 – 28 June). The cast includes Sudha Bhuchar, Neil D’Souza, Preeya Kalidas, Rez Kempton and Zita Sattar.

“You know I was born twice. Once when I came out of my mother. And then when a 747 landed at Heathrow Airport in 1969″

The Gill family living room. Culture clashes, sibling rivalries and endless cups of chah…
Widowed matriarch Jeeto (Sudha Bhuchar) has a strong sense of her past and principles. She’s spent her life working hard and making sacrifices for her children. But eldest son Pal (Rez Kempton), isn’t following in her footsteps.

He’s struggling with his role at the head of their expanding household. Crumbling under the weight of his father’s legacy, the family business is at risk and the last remaining link to their roots in the Punjab is in jeopardy. A warm and funny new play about tradition and ambition.

The production will be directed by Roxana Silbert, designed by Jamie Vartan, lighting by Chahine Yavroyan and sound by Giles Thomas.

Sudha Bhuchar is an actor and playwright. Her acting credits for theatre include Sweet Cider at the Arcola, A Fine Balance at Hampstead Theatre, Strictly Dandia at Edinburgh International Festival and Haroun & the Sea of Stories (National Theatre) and for television Stella, Casualty and EastEnders. Sudha is co-Artistic Director of Tamasha, the company she co-founded in 1989 which she currently runs with Fin Kennedy. Her next play for the company, My Name Is.. opens on 30 April at the Arcola.

Neil D’Souza’s theatre credits include Much Ado about Nothing with the RSC, Herges Adventures of Tin Tin at the Playhouse and The Man of Mode at the National Theatre.

Preeya Kalidas last appeared at the Royal Court in Oxford Street. Her other theatre credits include Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat and Bombay Dreams in the West End. Her television credits include Eastenders and Britz. On film her credits include Four Lions and Bend It Like Beckham.

Rez Kempton’s theatre credits include Drawing the Line at the Hampstead Theatre, The Arbor at Sheffield Crucible and Hijra at the Bush Theatre.

Zita Sattar last appeared at the Royal Court in East is East. Her other theatre credits include The Vagina Monologues and Romeo and Juliet at Leicester Haymarket theatre. Her television credits include Casualty. On screen she has appeared in West is West.

Khandan (Family) is directed by Roxana Silbert. Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s previous plays for Birmingham Repertory Theatre include Behsharam (Shameless) and Behzti (Dishonour) which won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Behud (Beyond Belief) for Soho Theatre. On screen her credits include Everywhere And Nowhere, and EastEnders, and she also writes regularly for The Archers.

Khandan is a co-production between Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre

Listings Information

The STUDIO, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP
Thursday 22 May – Saturday 7 June
Press Night: Tuesday 27 May, 7pm
Performance times: 7.45pm Mon to Sat, apart from Tue 27 May, 7pm. Matinees at 2.45pm on Sat 31 May and Thu 5 June
Tickets: £10 – £15 with concessions available
Box Office: 0121 236 4455 Book online: Birmingham-rep.co.uk

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square SW1W 8AS
Wednesday 11 June – Saturday 28 June 2014
Performance times: Monday-Saturday 7.45pm. Saturday matinees (from 14 June)
at 3pm, Thursday matinees (from 19 June) at 3pm
Captioned Performance Wednesday 25 June
Press Night Thursday 12 June, 7pm

Tickets: £20 Mondays all seats £10
Concessions £15* (available in advance until Saturday 14 June, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10 (avail. Wed-Sat and mats)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts are subject to availability.
Box Office: 0207 565 5000 Book online: royalcourttheatre.com

Age Guidance 14+

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For further information please contact:

Clare Jepson-Homer, Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 0121 245 2072 / 07807 132041 clare.jepsonhomer@birmingham-rep.co.uk

Anna Evans, Royal Court Theatre on 020 7565 5063 annaevans@royalcourttheatre.com

Notes to Editors:

Khandan is a co-production with Birmingham Rep

Birmingham Repertory Theatre is one of Britain’s leading producing theatre companies and in 2013 celebrated its centenary. Roxana Silbert recently joined The REP as Artistic Director taking the theatre forward into the next 100 years of its remarkable history.
The theatre’s programme includes many premieres from new versions of the classics to contemporary writing. The commissioning and production of new work lies at the core of The REP’s programme and over the last 15 years the company has produced more than 130 new plays.

The Royal Court Theatre is supported by Coutts

Coutts is the UK private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland. Coutts has a long history of supporting the arts going back 200 years, having looked after the financial affairs of many famous clients connected with the arts such as Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens and Chopin. In 1816, Thomas Coutts married Harriot Mellon, a popular actress of her day, and together they became partners of a number of London Theatres, including the Drury Lane and the Royal Opera House. Coutts has even featured in a number of artistic works including The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In the new millennium, this tradition has continued not only through managing the finances of many of today’s top writers, actors and musicians, but also through our arts sponsorship programme and we are delighted to support The Royal Court and its diverse range of ground-breaking performances.

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