The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford, 26th April

52 RSTC members had a very enjoyable visit to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, in Guildford, to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The show is on a UK tour before transferring to the West End. The large cast was headed by a number of well-known actors including Tessa Peake-Jones, Deborah Lang, Paul Nicholas and Graham Seed.

The play was adapted by writer Deborah Moggach from her bestselling 2004 novel ‘These Foolish Things’, which inspired the famous film and keeps the gentle warmth of both. The narrative is unchanged and follows a group of British retirees who all leave Britain feeling they have nothing left to keep them there and set out to establish a new life in India at an opulent and exotic retirement Hotel, although when they get there, it’s not quite as opulent as advertised. The play then explores the different ways that Indian culture changes and alters the views and experiences of the older residents and how their need to change impacts on the owners of the hotel and the local community. It’s sweet and full of gentle barbed laughs, some pretty close to home for a silver haired audience! But the humour is done with charm and delivered with grace by this experienced cast. With some slight modernisation of the plot to reflect our internet connected world the characters rub against each other in their daily routines, learning more about each other and having their assumptions and bias challenged.

Another very successful and enjoyable RSTC event.