Rifco Theatre Company bring hilarious family comedy Happy Birthday Sunita to Northampton

Rifco Theatre Company are to tour a brand new production of their hugely successful show Happy Birthday Sunita, in association with Watford Palace Theatre, which comes to Northampton’s Royal & Derngate from Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 June.

It’s Sunita’s birthday and a surprise party at the Johals leaves the whole family reeling. It’s not just the dhal that’s bubbling under the surface – the Johals have decades of unfinished business.

Written by Hollyoaks star Harvey Virdi, the hugely popular 2014 play from Rifco Theatre Company has been revived with a fresh line-up of strong female leads and a whip smart script, capturing the complex family dynamics of the Johal family in a post-Brexit and post-pandemic world.

Digging deeper into the characters and the relationships between them, the 2023 version stars Indian TV and film actress Divya Seth Shah (Goodbye, Duranga, Jab We Met) who takes on the role of Tejpal, the matriarch of the Johal house. Leicester-based actress Bhawna Bhawsar (EastEnders, Emmerdale, The Undeclared War and Royal & Derngate’s Lovely Bones) stars as Sunita, the reclusive birthday girl, and west London-based rising star Rameet Rauli (Eastenders, Little English) plays Harleen, Tejpal’s high-maintenance daughter-in-law.

The cast is completed by talented actors Devesh Kishore (Last Night, GH Boy and The Bone Sparrow) who plays Tejpal’s fun-loving son, a typical Punjabi mummy’s boy, and Keiron Crook (Coronation Street, Screw, and Violet) who plays Maurice, an east end builder made good, who’s been working on Tejpal’s kitchen renovations.

When the Johals gather in their newly renovated kitchen for Sunita’s surprise birthday party, it slowly emerges that each family member has been wearing a mask. Confrontations erupt, and their masks begin to slip. Secrets are revealed and the truth about relationships unravel. As each character confronts their truth, the family reaches a crossroads and must decide how to live their authentic lives.

Virdi, who is known to fans as Misbah Maalik in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, said: “Relationships can be hard in any family dynamic. We all go through ups and downs, and often shy away from speaking the truth. We are so worried about what ‘people’ say and what ‘people’ will think that we forget to listen to ourselves and our families and what is important for us.

“In the play, everyone’s true selves start to burst out when they least expect it. And it’s up to the family to pick each other back up and celebrate themselves for who they truly are. If we let society and community hold us back, then have we actually made the most of the one life we have been blessed with? It was a wonderful opportunity to explore this aspect of family life and show how being true and honest with ourselves can make us stronger.”

The play is directed by Pravesh Kumar MBE, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of award-winning Rifco Theatre Company, with design by Colin Falconer.

Exploring themes of traditional gender roles, conformity, ageism and independence, the play has all the drama, emotion and surprises of a family at breaking point. Unexpected guests, butter-free roti and skeletons in the cupboard aren’t enough to stop the family busting out some classic Punjabi shapes in the kitchen! So, audoences should put on their birthday party finery and get ready for a samosa saga, as Rifco revives this sell-out comedy.

The play takes to the Royal stage in Northampton from Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 June at 7.30pm, with matinees at 2.30pm on Thursday and Saturday. Tickets are priced from £17* and can be booked by calling Box Office on 01604 624811 or online at www.royalanderngate.co.uk.

* A charge of £4 applies for all transactions of £20 and over. Does not apply to Groups, Members or Disabled Patrons, and is per-transaction, not per-ticket.