The cast has been announced for Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s new play Khandan (Family) which will play at Birmingham REP and London’s Royal Court.
The cast comprises Sudha Bhuchar, Neil D’Souza, Preeya Kalidas, Rez Kempton and Zita Sattar.
Culture clashes and sibling rivalries come to the fore in this “warm and funny new play about tradition and ambition”.
Sudha Bhuchar plays widowed matriarch Jeeto. She has spent her life working hard and making sacrifices for her children. But eldest son Pal (Rez Kempton) is struggling with his role as head of the household, the family business is at risk and the last remaining link to their roots in the Punjab is in jeopardy.
Sudha Buchar, artistic director of Tamasha, is both an actor and playwright. Her theatre credits include Zindabad and Lotus Beauty at the Gate Theatre and Sweet Cider at the Arcola. On television she has been in Stella, Casualty and EastEnders.
Neil D’Souza played Conrad in Much Ado about Nothing for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Noël Coward Theatre and was in The Man of Mode at the National Theatre.
Preeya Kalidas last appeared at the Royal Court in Oxford Street in 2008. Her other theatre credits include Bombay Dreams in the West End and she was the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Adelphi Theatre in 2007.
Rez Kempton appeared in Howard Brenton’s 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’s Haymarket Theatre.
Khandan will be directed by Birmingham REP’s artistic director Roxana Silbert. Design is by Jamie Vartan, lighting by Chahine Yavroyan and sound by Giles Thomas.
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s previous plays for Birmingham REP include Behsharam(Shameless) and Behzti (Dishonour) which won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Khandan is a co-production between Birmingham REP and the Royal Court Theatre. It runs at the REP from Thursday 22 May until Saturday 7 June and transfers to the Royal Court from 11 until 28 June.