Next Sunday (April 17th) sees another in the popular series of National Theatre rebroadcasts in Aix’s five star Renaissance Hotel.‘Behind the Beautiful Forevers’ is the story of a Mumbai slum just next to the city’s international airport.Katherine Boo, prize-winning journalist, and Sir David Hare, famed playwright and screenwriter, have combined to make a compelling play that takes us into a world few of us can imagine.Boo spent three years there and won the 2012 National Book award for her recounting of the stories of people whose lives are not beautiful and very much short of forever.The Telegraph said of the NTL production:“Hare has fashioned from her book a tumultuous play on an epic scale, the story of individuals struggling to keep body and soul together in a society that is indifferent to their fates, and conspires through bribery, corruption and inefficiency, to push their fortunes further down into the stinking pile.At the heart of both book and play is a minor spat that spins out of control. ‘Diligent teenage trash sorter’ Abdul Husain (Shane Zaza), his shack-proud mum (Meera Syal’s wry and dry Zehrunisa) and ailing father Karam (Vincent Ebrahim) embark on home improvements that enrage their envious, one-legged neighbour Fatima (Thusitha Jayasundera). The latter sets fire to herself and then blames it all on them, ensuring the family swiftly face a Kafkaesque nightmare of injustice and incarceration.While consistently enjoyable, the show resists the temptation to make the spectacle of poor people in desperate competition look exotic.”
David Hare has a great track-record as the creator of The Hours, The Reader, Plenty, A Map of the World, and Skylight, to name just a few. This should be a memorable experience.
Trailer here: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/behind-the-beautiful-forevers.
At: Renaissance Hotel in Aix en Provence
Two thumbs up to the Renaissance Hotel in Aix for hosting these plays for local English-speakers
When: 14:30, 17th April.
Tickets: please use this link,
https://www.weezevent.com/behind-the-beautiful-forevers and as always, bring a printout of the purchase with you.
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thanks so much >