Review: FRANKIE GOES TO BOLLYWOOD, Theatre Royal Windsor - Tour
Photo credit: Richard Lakos
Rifco Theatre specialises in creating theatre which celebrates and reflects contemporary British South Asian experiences and is a welcome addition to the regional touring scene. Its ambition to diversify the offer in British Theatre and integrate the South Asian and British culture is important and to be celebrated. Frankie goes to Bollywood goes further, not only does it bring the famous Bollywood film culture to the UK stage, but also shines a light on some of the more problematic darker sides of the enormous Hindi film industry in Mumbai.
Frankie (Sarah Pearson) dreams of Bollywood imagining that she will find her late mother somewhere in its films, and shares that dream with her friend Goldy (Katie Stasi) who she works with at the local cinema selling popcorn in Huddersfield. They form the sisterhood of brown sugar. When Goldy goes for an audition for a new Bollywood film, Frankie accidentally beats her to the role. She is young, attractive and naïve, and easily tempted by the glamour of being a movie star offered by Prem (Akshay Datta), the producer and writer of the film before falling under the spell of egotistical superstar Raju King (Ankur Sabharwal). She is what the film industry wants - a body, a face and followers. We can see that the dream and the flattery has seduced her into decisions that, back home in England, she might not have fallen for.
Pravash Kumar, who writes and directs the play, brings this simple story to the stage in a cabaret format under the illuminated distinctive Indian arches portals linking the narrative scenes with Bollywood style musical numbers. He gives it a filmic styling by having three light stands paraded around the stage between scenes and a large fan used to give a sense of being on the film studio floor. There is a particularly attractive sequence when the flowing trains of sarees become picturesque backcloths. Although we have an impression of the style of Bollywood films, we are not familiar with them and much of the parody within the portrayal was lost on us but not on the majority of the audience. It is exactly this insight into the culture that makes the work so interesting.
Luke Suri dominates the scenes as Shona, the camp, publicity seeking jack of all trades who grins with self-appreciation throughout. The other characters are not really developed and are superficial stereotypes without depth and therefore we don’t hugely care about their fate. There’s plenty of energy in the dancing, if a little chaotic at times (perhaps an accurate portrayal of the Bollywood genre) and the main costumes by Andy Kumar create extravagant, opulent, colourful pictures. The book perhaps tries to do too much in its messaging about friendship, true love, corruption and feminism and again, this may reflect the Marsala (mix of everything) nature of the genre. We also have a sense that the Bollywood numbers are mimed. It would have been interesting to contrast that musical style with British Pop to emphasise the difference and support the integration, The title might lead you to expect to hear ‘Welcome to the Pleasure Dome’, ‘Relax’, ‘Two Tribes’ or ‘The Power of Love’ which were such big hits for Frankie Goes Hollywood in the 1980s.
This musical play dips into the Bollywood film industry, which is said to be the largest producer of films in the world, worth around $2billion a year, and reveals that like Hollywood itself, not everything is as glamorous as it seems. There are no surprises there, but the real joy of this show is the audience it attracts, drawn by seeing their culture on stages, and that is to be encouraged and celebrated. British theatre needs to draw in more diverse audiences and shows like this are certainly on the right path.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne