Manchester’s Royal Exchange is to stage a brand-new version of Hobson’s Choice by award-winning writer Tanika Gupta.
It explores family relationships and patriarchy versus a young woman's determination to change the status quo. Tony Jayawardena, who takes on the role of Hari Hobson, is joined by Shalini Peiris as Durga Hobson, Maimuna Memon as Sunita Hobson and Safiyya Ingar as Ruby Hobson. It runs May 31–July 6.
Hari has fled Uganda to make a new life for his family in Manchester’s ever-changing Northern Quarter of the 1980s. Unimpressed by her father’s old-fashioned patriarchy, the ambitious Durga, a modern feminist living and dreaming in a city fuelled by innovation and revolution, refuses to let herself and her sisters be held back by her father’s stubbornness and outdated ideals.