![](https://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Photo©EllieKurttz_Happy-Birthday-Sunita_-PRO_230-1-jpg.webp)
Show: Happy Birthday Sunita
Society: Theatre Royal Windsor
Venue: Theatre Royal Windsor, 32 Thames Street, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 1PS
Credits: Written by Harvey Virdi. Directed by |Pravesh Kumar. Presented by Rifco Theatre Company in association with Watford Palace Theatre
Type: Sardines
Author: Chris Abbott
Performance Date: 31/05/2023
Happy Birthday Sunita
Chris Abbott | 31 May 2023 23:13pm
Photo: Ellie Kurttz
Rifco Theatre Company is based in Watford but this was the first time I had seen its work. It has an impressive record of British South Asian drama, and Happy Birthday Sunita is an updated version of a play first seen in 2014 and now on tour. The enterprising Theatre Royal Windsor was the venue this week, and an impressively diverse audience made up in enthusiasm and appreciation for the lack of numbers.
Harvey Virdi’s play is set in the newly installed kitchen of a family who have very different approaches to life (Virdi wrote the fondly remembered Bollywood Dick Whittington for Tara Theatre). Sunita, apparently withdrawn and sullen most of the time, doesn’t want to celebrate her birthday until her absent father phones from India. Her brother Nav does his best to encourage her but is torn between his loyalty to his family and to his partner Harleen. Harleen is “something in fashion” and does her best to fit in to her in-laws ways, but is soon exasperated by the process. A late arrival at the party is kitchen fitter Maurice.
Pravesh Kumar’s authoritative, lively and amusing direction gets the most from a talented group of actors, provoking many laughs of delighted recognition from the audience, as well as periods of highly attentive listening. Bhawna Bhawsar is convincing as Sunita, although it is disappointing that she doesn’t have much to play with; her character is the least developed in the play and the one we learn least about. As her brother, Devesh Kishore also does his best with a character who is mostly sketched out. When his turban is pulled off, revealing he has cut his hair, the moment summarises much about the character even though it is rather rushed and perhaps not signalled enough in advance for less well-informed members of the audience.
The most amusing and entertaining performance is definitely from Rameet Rauli as the fashion-conscious Harleen. She makes the very most of the lines and situations her character has been given without ever going over the top, It is a very enjoyable portrayal. Much of the humour comes from the occasional asides in Punjabi, although it is kitchen fitter Maurice, played sensitively by Kieron Crook, who gets the biggest laugh with the slightly questionable line “You people do like your extensions!”
It is Divya Seth Shah, however, as the matriarch of the family, who gives the performance of the evening and grounds the play in reality. She is a highly experienced actor and knows the value of being still as all around is chaos. Colin Falconer’s set is entirely appropriate and my only disappointment was the very short running time of the play. Setting aside the interval, the action of the play lasted only 1 hr 20 mins, even though big issues were raised here and so much more could have been made of them.
In particular, I would have preferred a more leisurely reveal of the plot twist, and more stage time for the character of Sunita to be developed and explained. I was not the only one to feel the evening ended rather abruptly, as I could tell from the comments of some of those around me. The days of three hour plays are long gone but something around two hours seems to be work well when there are big issues and plot developments to contend with. Despite these reservations, this was an entertaining evening and deserves to find larger audiences as it tours.