The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel At Milton Keynes Theatre Review

Reviewed by Amanda Dando

It was with great excitement we arrived at Milton Keynes Theatre tonight to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. We had enough time to eat at one of the many restaurants in very close distance to the theatre. If you haven’t seen the films, I will try not to spoil things for you, but this show was just what we needed on a very cold January evening in a bleak 2023.

I don’t know about you, but I am of an age that I wonder, what awaits us in our twilight years, well if it’s the the Marigold Hotel, I am in. The story is multi layered and is maybe someone and everyone’s. For me, it’s bittersweet, joyful, sad, uplifting, so many emotions, but then isn’t that life? I loved the films and I most certainly think this amazing cast did it justice on the stage.

The short story is a variety of people take a flight to India, all very much in the twilight years of their lives. Some embrace the Indian culture some don’t, but the show is their story of their journey whilst in India. I think standouts for me, having seen the films, were Sonny Kapore played by Nissan More and Sahani played by Sheila Iqbal. They both bore an amazing resemblance to the film characters and oozed vitality and enthusiasm. They have their own story, and joyfully this ends well. This show has an amazing cast of stars, led by Hayley Miles as Evelyn, Paul Nicholas as Douglas and Rula Lenska as Madge. Glorious performances not just from them but from everyone else to. All the sub stories are touching and play out around the main characters and story. The Marigold Hotel may be old and crumbling, much like it’s residents, but it becomes a home to them all. A home very much led by Mrs Kapoor, the very brilliant Rekha John Cheriyan. Her performance as mum of Sonny was a joy to watch.

Although sad in parts, the show is very witty and is full of laughs, just what’s needed on a cold and never ending January. I think for me it by far one of the best shows I have seen on stage for sometime, I just found the characters so engaging and the music somewhat magical. It didn’t overwhelm what was happening on stage, but complemented what was happening. It very much felt that everyone on stage was very much their character and was totally believable as who they were playing. If you have seen the film, don’t expect the show to follow that to the letter, there are variations, but all for the good. Who knows what awaits us in our ‘golden years’ I would like to think, in an ideal world there is a Marigold Hotel for us all.

The final scenes were my favourite, with Sonny and Suhani leading everyone is some dancing, I did overhear someone saying, there should have been more dancing in the show, but is there dancing everyday in real life? Everything for me, was just perfect, grab a ticket this week, you really will enjoy the very best night out.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost from £13 plus £3.65 transaction fee

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is at Milton Keynes Theatre from Tuesday 24 To Saturday 28 January 2023 for more information or to book tickets visit www.atgtickets.com or call the box office on 02072061174

Milton Keynes Theatre 500 Marlborough Gate Central Milton Keynes MK9 3NZ