Tommy Belshaw, Jaz Singh Deol, Anoushka Deshmukh and the cast of Marriage Material are now in rehearsals ahead of the show’s debut at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre this month.
The Bains’ corner shop in Wolverhampton has been at the centre of the family for three generations.
Against the backdrop of a changing 20th century, Mrs Bains is balancing running the business, caring for her ailing husband and the demands of her two headstrong daughters, who each have their eye on a different kind of future.
Fast forward to the present day, a family tragedy pulls Arjan Bains back from a life in London. The shop represents everything he was trying to escape, but with his mother insisting it remain open, how long can he stay away?
Casting includes Belshaw as Jim/Bill, Deol as Mr Bains/Arjan, Deshmukh as Surinder, Celeste Dodwell as Claire/Miss Flanagan, Avita Jay as Mrs Bains, Kiran Landa as Kamaljit, Omar Malik as Ranjit/Tanvir, Irfan Shamji as Dhanda. Casting is by Jatinder Chera.
The show, a coproduction between Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Birmingham Rep, is based on the novel by author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera (The Boy with the Topknot). It is adapted for the stage for the first time by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti (A Kind of People) and directed by Iqbal Khan (East is East).
The full creative team includes set and costume designer Good Teeth, lighting designer Simeon Miller, composer & sound designer Holly Khan, movement director Anjali Mehra, associate movement director Rakhee Sharma, voice & dialect coach Gurkiran Kaur, assistant director Harper K Hefferon and associate sound designer Anna Wood.
Marriage Material runs at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre from May 22 – June 21, 2025, before moving to Birmingham Rep. Tickets: Marriage Material
Top image: Marriage Material: Jaz Singh Deol, Avita Jay, Anoushka Deshmukh and Irfan Shamji. All photos: credit Helen Murray (images supplied)
