UK tour for Black Country theatre group.
Black Country Touring, Kali Theatre and Arts Alive bring their new theatrical comedy My Big Fat Cowpat Wedding to local venues in October as part of a major national tour.
The audience is invited to be the guests at the wedding reception of Clare and Arjun. It’s a celebration of an intercultural marriage between a country girl and an Indian lad from the city, with all their friends and family. What could possibly go wrong? Of course plenty does in this fast moving new comedy, full of misunderstanding and mishaps with plenty of neat twists and a Bhangra disco dance for everyone to join in at the end.
The idea for the show originally arose from a community exchange between a tiny rural Shropshire village and an urban West Midlands community. There was much to laugh about in discovering the prejudices and misunderstandings about their utterly different everyday lives; only fifty miles apart but totally different environments. From street lights to shopping, mud to music, transport to tractors, each community’s concept of what’s ‘normal’ was radically different.
Further material was gathered through interviews with people with experience of intercultural marriages or rural weddings attended by city dwellers out of their comfort zone. From their stories, writer, Sayan Kent wrote this fun and light hearted exploration of relationships across the divides of rural and urban, race and age.
Writer Sayan Kent says, “I wanted the piece to explore the clash of cultures in a white family from the country and an Asian family from the city coming together. The best way to do that was through comedy and I hope that amid the laughter and fun, the real issues that concern the characters are ever more poignant.”
Sayan’s recent plays include Endless Light (Southwark Playhouse); Shared Memories (Curve Leicester & Arcola), Antigone’s Sister (Birmingham Rep), The Contract (Joint Stock, Joint winner of the Capital New Writing Festival), Invisible (Birmingham mac), Another Paradise, (Nominated for a John Whiting Award), Silas Marner, Mother Goose, Dick Whittington, Aladdin (Coventry Belgrade).
The creative team behind My Big Fat Cowpat Wedding includes local writer Sayan Kent and directors Steve Johnstone and Janet Steel. The cast includes local actors’ Aaron Virdee, Aimee Berwick, Graeme Rose and with Sheena Patel.
Tour details can be found at www.bctouring.co.uk/portfolios/my-big-fat-cow-pat-wedding-2014/