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BrumHour saw Marriage Material at the invite of Birmingham Rep.
By Dave Massey x.com/BrumHour
This production contains onstage implied violence plus strong language including racial slurs.
Marriage Material at Birmingham Rep: Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐”Fun and thoughtful”
Directed by Iqbal Khan, written by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, based on the novel by Sathnam Sanghera
Marriage Material, follows the lives of two British-born sisters, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh) and Kamaljit (Kiran Landa). We see parts of their lives over many decades, starting with their upbringing in Wolverhampton, when Surinder is 16 and attempting to make choices about her future education.
An impressive large dollhouse unfolds to become the set, a shop, with the house behind it. The actors appear and move items on the stage throughout and time moves on in the story. The music before each half matches each time period as a lead-in.
Our leads Anoushka Deshmukh and Kiran Landa are excellent as they switch from younger to older, Omar Malik is playful and fun with his characters, whilst former EastEnder, Jaz Singh Deol gets a bigger chance to shine in the second half.
The story doesn’t shy away from racism, fights for equality and chasing dreams. It includes the audience throughout even though the script features plenty of Punjabi words and slang. The tone switches swiftly from deadly serious to being full of humour and I’m sure most people will call it bittersweet. There are, of course, music and dance interludes but they are used sparingly and effectively. All solid staples of Iqbal Khan’s direction.
Fun and thoughtful, Marriage Material is at Birmingham Rep until 5th July 2025. Book tickets here: birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/marriage-material.
