Review of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at Milton Keynes Theatre

The 2011 British comedy film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was a surprise success at the box office, maybe thanks to having a star cast including the likes of Judi Dench and Bill Nighy. Such was the success, that it spawned a sequel in 2015, and then even a rather curious TV series about The Real Marigold Hotel. So, with all that success, maybe it is no surprise that reaching Milton Keynes Theatre this week as part of a UK tour is a stage version of the story. So, is this a further success in the series, or spreading the same old story too thinly?

The simple answer is that The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as a stage show, in this incarnation, does seem very thin. This is a safe, tremendously simple British comedy, which for the first act at least presents very little drama or story-telling, and just a sort of getting-to-know-the-assembled old folks, who, as the story states, have come to the hotel, to retire, and escape life, or find new love. None of that simplicity is to the detriment of the play in many ways, and there is enough happening in the second act to warrant a better review than the first act would.

The show really lives on its performances though from a delightfully entertaining cast of old stalwarts as Deborah Moggach's script, from her own novel, is a little obvious and shallow at times and needs the cast to make it fizz. Much of the humour comes, perhaps obviously, from the age of the characters. Therefore for the older members of the audience, they laugh at the similarity to themselves, while the young audience simply laughs at the old people and their foibles, while probably feeling some trepidation that in x amount of years, this will be them, as is warned more than once during the play.

Hayley Mills is delightful as the gentle and very caring Evelyn, showing a wonderful and delicate tenderness to her performance as you would probably expect from such an acting legend. At the opposite of the spectrum is Rula Lenska's Madge, very abrasive at times with her character long seeing off her filter for what you should and shouldn't say, and for anyone who has seen Lenska before, her performance is very much as you'd expect. Another character whose filter is switched off is Norman, played with great timing and presence by Andy de la Tour. Norman is a horrible character in many ways, however, in the hands of de la Tour, you can't help but like him much more than you would want to and certainly might in real-life.

Dorothy played by Richenda Carey is intriguing as we slowly discover the true reason for her coming to Bangalore, and later she has some lovely moments alongside Kriss Dosanjh's Jimmy to bring her story to a conclusion. Marlene Sidaway provides a hugely funny performance as the elderly Muriel, one of the best characters in the play.

Eileen Battye's Jean is another character that takes some liking and in the end, you probably don't as her story does not allow a path to redemption. As Jean's husband, TV favourite of many a year, Paul Nicholas, gives a charming, but very quiet performance. Maybe more the character's fault than Nicholas', he just glides through the show, rather than exacting a strong presence in the story or the show.

The young cast plays second fiddle to the old cast here, but they all provide entertaining performances. Rekha John-Cheriyan is domineering as Mrs. Kapoor, controlling her son and his future, despite hiding a history of her past. Nishad More as her son Sonny plays the put-upon character with the energy needed to compliment the older folks and his scenes with his girlfriend Sahani, played by Shila Iqbal, are believably played.

The story plays out in a spectacular hotel set by Colin Richmond, who also provides the lovely costume work on the show. It is perhaps a shame that such a characterful set is not provided with a better backdrop than the black curtains which simply drape behind it. A little light, a little of India would have made it feel more complete. Technically it is a solid show, with some nice effective lighting evoking India's colours and subtle sound effects, however, there are some issues with hearing the dialogue at times in the vast space that is Milton Keynes Theatre, so, some lines are missed and occasionally you do feel the need to really concentrate to hear.

Director Lucy Bailey works hard to keep the show moving and appealing while the first act is slow at times, it just keeps on the right side of interest. However, the first act does end in the most unspectacular way which the audience was not prepared for. Thankfully, the second act is much stronger and moves along with more pace and despite being fifteen minutes longer than the first, it feels less.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is lighthearted and trivial theatre, it is the complete opposite of groundbreaking drama, but perhaps that doesn't matter. You very much get what you would expect from the show and nothing more, and sometimes it is nice to be unchallenged in a theatre as well.

Lovely comforting theatre, like a Horlicks at bedtime.
⭐⭐⭐½

Performance reviewed: Wednesday 25th January 2023 at the Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 28th January 2023.

For further details about Milton Keynes see their website at http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/

Production photos: Johan Persson