Simon Friend Entertainment has announced that a brand-new stage adaptation of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is set to be a major new theatre production. Written by Deborah Moggach, adapted from her bestselling novel which inspired the BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated film, and directed by Lucy Bailey, the cherished story will be brought to life on stage when it opens at the Richmond Theatre on Tuesday, 30th August 2022.
Deborah Moggach – Credit Urszula Soltys.The tour then visits Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield; Theatre Royal, Brighton; Theatre Royal, Glasgow; Theatre Royal, Newcastle; Hall for Cornwall, Truro; Churchill Theatre, Bromley; Theatre Royal, Norwich; Curve, Leicester; The Lowry, Salford and the New Victoria Theatre, Woking before concluding at Theatre Royal, Bath next December. Further dates in 2023 are to be announced.
Based on the Sunday Times bestseller which inspired one of this century’s most treasured films, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel takes us on a journey to India with an eclectic group of British retirees as they embark on a new life. The luxury residence is far from the opulence they were promised, but as their lives begin to intertwine and they embrace the vibrancy of modern-day India, they are charmed in unexpected and life-changing ways.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a joyous, feel-good comedy about taking risks, finding love and embracing second chances, even in the most surprising of places.
Based on Deborah Moggach’s 2004 novel These Foolish Things, the film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (directed by John Madden) saw its UK theatrical release in 2012. Within two weeks of its cinematic distribution, the film had topped the UK Box Office and went on to become a hit internationally performing as one of the highest-grossing films of 2012 in Australia and New Zealand as well as the United Kingdom.
The interlinked stories of the film’s stellar ensemble, which included Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilson, Tom Wilkinson, Celie Imrie and Ronald Pickup – with Dev Patel as the put-upon owner of a past-it-best hotel for ‘the elderly and beautiful’ – shone a light on issues such as the outsourcing of care and NHS treatments, the complexity of family relationships around the world, love, compassion and companionship in our twilight years.
Deborah Moggach says of today’s announcement: “I’m so thrilled that my characters are stepping into a new life on the stage. They’ve been waiting impatiently for the curtain to rise, and none of them is getting any younger. So welcome again to the Marigold Hotel! We’re assembling an amazing cast, so I hope they bring you plenty of laughs and some warm sparks of recognition.”
Producer Simon Friend continues: “I have been a huge fan of Deborah Moggach’s writing for years, so it’s an honour to work with her on this exciting new adaptation of her beloved story, which I feel has always called out to be experienced as live theatre.”
Deborah Moggach has written 20 novels including These Foolish Things which became The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, directed by John Madden. Deborah’s screenplay for the 2005 Working Title movie of Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadyen, was nominated for a BAFTA. Adaptations of other writers’ work include Nancy Mitford’s Love in a Cold Climate, The Diary of Anne Frank and Anne Fine’s Goggle-Eyes, which won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best Adapted TV Serial. The movie, Tulip Fever, based on her novel of the same name starred Christoph Waltz and Judi Dench. Deborah has adapted some of her other novels for television: Seesaw, Close Relations, Stolen and Final Demand. Double Take, Deborah’s first original stage play was produced at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester.
Lucy Bailey directs the new production. Lucy studied English at Oxford University where she directed the world premiere of Lessness by Samuel Beckett. Recent productions include: David Mamet’s Oleanna (UK Tour & West End); Gaslight (UK Tour); Witness for the Prosecution (London’s County Hall); Ghosts (Royal & Derngate, Northampton); Switzerland (Bath Ustinov / West End); Cave (a site-specific opera for London Sinfonietta and Royal Opera House, at the Print Works, London); Comus, A Masque in Honour of Chastity (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Globe); Kenny Morgan (Arcola, London).
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is produced by Simon Friend.
Full casting to be announced.
Get ready for the journey of a lifetime.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – 2022 Tour Dates
Tue 30 Aug – Sat 10 Sept
Richmond Theatre, Richmond
Tue 13 – Sat 17 Sept
Box Office: 0114 249 6000
Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield
www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
Tue 20 – Sat 24 Sept
Theatre Royal, Brighton
On sale to members Mon 29 Nov, general on sale Tue 30 Nov
Tue 27 Sept – Sat 1 Oct Box Office: 0844 8717647
Theatre Royal, Glasgow
On sale to members Mon 29 Nov, general on sale Tue 30 Nov
Tue 4 – Sat 8 Oct Box Office: 08448 11 21 21
Theatre Royal, Newcastle
www.theatreroyal.co.uk
Tue 11 – Sat 5 Oct
Box Office: 01872 262 466
Hall for Cornwall
www.hallforcornwall.co.uk
Tue 18 – Sat 22 Oct Box Office: 0343 310 0020
Churchill Theatre, Bromley
www.churchilltheatre.co.uk
Tue 25 – Sat 29 Oct Box Office: 01603 630 000
Theatre Royal, Norwich
www.norwichtheatre.org
Tue 1 Oct – Sat 5 Nov Box Office: 0116 242 3595
Curve, Leicester
www.curveonline.co.uk
Tue 8 – Sat 12 Nov
Box Office: 0343 208 6000
The Lowry, Salford
www.thelowry.com
Tue 15 – Sat 19 Nov Box Office: 0333 009 6690
New Victoria Theatre, Woking
On sale to members Mon 29 Nov, general on sale Tue 30 Nov
Mon 28 Nov – Sat 3 Dec Box Office: 01225 448 844
Theatre Royal, Bath
www.theatreroyal.org.uk