The cast and creatives have been announced for the new stage adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s Marriage Material.
Marriage Material is playing at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London from 22 May to 21 June 2025, and the Birmingham Rep from 25 June to 5 July 2025.
Casting for the production includes Tommy Belshaw as Jim/Bill, Jaz Singh Deol as Mr Bains/Arjun, Anoushka Deshmukh as Surinder, Celeste Dodwell as Claire/Mrs Flanagan, Avita Jay as Mrs Bains, Kiran Landa as Kamaljit, Omar Malik as Ranjit/Tanvir, and Irfan Shamji as Dhanda.
The play is based on the critically acclaimed novel Marriage Material by best-selling author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera (The Boy with the Topknot), and is adapted for the stage for the first time by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti (A Kind of People) and directed by Iqbal Khan (East is East).
Marriage Material is set in the Bains’ corner shop in Wolverhampton, which has been the centre of the family for three generations. Against the backdrop of a changing 20th century, Mrs Bains is balancing running the business, caring for her ailing husband and the demands of her two headstrong daughters, who each have their eye on a different kind of future.
Fast forward to the present day, a family tragedy pulls Arjan Bains back from a life in London. The shop represents everything he was trying to escape, but with his mother insisting it remain open, how long can he stay away?
The full creative team includes: Good Teeth (Set and Costume Designer), Simeon Miller (Lighting Designer), Holly Khan (Composer and Sound Designer), Anjali Mehra (Movement Director), Rakhee Sharma (Associate Movement Director), Gurkiran Kaur (Voice and Dialect Coach), Harper K Hefferon (Assistant Director), Jatinder Chera (Casting), and Anna Wood (Associate Sound Designer).
Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s first play Behsharam broke box office records at Soho/Birmingham Rep. Her second play Behzti was closed after protests, and went on to win the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.
Iqbal Khan is the Associate Director of Birmingham Rep, an Associate Artist of Box Clever Theatre Company, and the Artistic Director of the 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. He has worked extensively with the RSC, as well as directing for opera and classical music events.
Marriage Material is playing at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London from 22 May to 21 June 2025.
Book tickets to Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London
What They Said about Marriage Material
Author Sathnam Sanghera said in a statement: “What can I say – even if I’d not written the book that the play is based on, I’d rush to see this dream cast in action! I am really excited to see how this talented group of actors bring Gurpreet’s fantastic adaptation to life on stage for the very first time.”
Writer Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti said: “I’m delighted to be bringing Sathnam’s heartfelt and funny novel to the stage with this incredible group of actors. I’m looking forward to watching them embrace the epic and bring fine intimate detail to this important story which is so relevant for today.”
Director Iqbal Khan said: “I am so excited by the company we’ve formed to share Gurpreet’s heartfelt and hilarious tale. They are all actors I admire for their craft, curiosity and fearlessness. It’s a big story that tracks generations and communities, that helps us understand what’s shaped us as a country.”
Rachel O’Riordan, Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, said: “I’m thrilled that the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Birmingham Rep are co-producing Marriage Material, bringing Sathnam Sanghera’s hilarious and heart-warming novel to the stage for the first time. Adapted by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti and directed by Iqbal Khan, this brilliant new production explores the complexities of family, identity, and belonging across generations. We can’t wait to share this deeply relatable story of love, secrets, and the ties that bind us with audiences here in the heart of West London.”
Marriage Material – More about the cast
Anoushka Deshmukh (Surinder)
Anoushka graduated from East 15 and has performed in several shows for the National Youth Theatre including If It Didn’t Matter and My Brother’s a Genius, as well as Ghar Ghar written and directed by Annum Salman at the Camden Fringe. She has also led short films such as The Meal, directed by Nikhil Rampal and Rishi Sharma.
Avita Jay (Mrs Bains)
Theatre includes: Expendable (Royal Court), A Tupperware of Ashes (National), The Secret Garden (Regent’s Park), multiple RSC productions (The Empress, Falkland Sound, The Comedy of Errors, The Winter’s Tale), Jinnistan (Òran Mór/Traverse), Favour (Bush), The Lovely Bones (Birmingham Rep), and numerous national tours.
Television includes: Casualty, Doctors, The Good Ship Murder, Emmerdale, Silent Witness, Coronation Street, and L8R.
Film includes: By Any Other Name, The Rezort, London, Paris, New York, and Twenty8K.
Avita also narrates audiobooks for Audible and works for InterAct Stroke Support.
Celeste Dodwell (Claire / Mrs F)
Stage: Much Ado About Nothing, An Octoroon (National Theatre), Hay Fever (West End), The Sweet Science of Bruising (Wilton’s Music Hall).
TV: The Castaways (Paramount+), Atlanta (FX), Sick Of It, Urban Myths (Sky), Call The Midwife (BBC), Endeavour (ITV).
Film: Living, Cyrano.
Irfan Shamji (Dhanda)
Most recently appeared in The Cord (Bush Theatre) and is known for Sons of the Prophet, Hamlet, Metamorphoses, The Arrival, Dance Nation, and Mayfly (Equity’s Clarence Derwent Award).
TV: Industry (BBC/HBO), Shardlake (Disney+), The Walk-In, The Ipcress File, Informer, The Dark Crystal.
Trained at RADA, where he played Laertes opposite Tom Hiddleston under Kenneth Branagh’s direction.
Jaz Singh Deol (Mr Bains / Arjan)
Recently seen in Toxic Town (Netflix) and The Killer (Peacock). Played Kheerat Panesar in EastEnders for three years.
Theatre: Tartuffe, Lions and Tigers, Djinns of Eidgah, Linda, Snookered, Mush and Me.
TV: The Sister Boniface Mysteries, The Boy with the Top Knot, Lovesick, Code of a Killer, The Halcyon, Love, Lies and Records.
Film: Terminal (short), Viceroy’s House, Darkness Visible.
Voice work: Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Forza Horizon.
Kiran Landa (Kamaljit)
Trained at The Television Workshop, Nottingham.
Theatre: Lotus Beauty, Extinct, War Horse, The Contingency Plan, Arabian Nights, Primetime, Great Expectations, Dov and Ali.
TV: Grace, FBI International, Coronation Street, Blindspot, Ackley Bridge, Line of Duty, Scott and Bailey, Hollyoaks, Doctors.
Film: Synthesized, Jadoo: Kings of Curry, Shoot on Sight.
Omar Malik (Ranjit / Tanvir)
Trained at Manchester School of Theatre.
TV: The Tower (ITV), Hollyoaks, No Offence, The Tracey Ullman Show, Doctors, Call the Midwife, Holby City, Coronation Street, Dracula, and more.
Theatre: Abigail’s Party, My Beautiful Laundrette, East is East, Gangsta Granny, Fever Dream: Southside, Wanted! Robin Hood.
Tommy Belshaw (Jim / Bill)
Recently appeared as Charlie and Shadwell in RSC’s The Buddha of Suburbia at the Barbican.
Other credits include Sister Boniface Mysteries (BBC) and My Fault: London (Amazon feature film).
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