First ever venture to the Royal Court

Jeeto Gill has spent her life working her fingers to the bone and making countless sacrifices for her two children. Widowed and now in her sixties, she is looking forward to returning to her motherland in the Punjab, as she longs to spend her days relaxing on her newly-built verandah whilst gazing out at lush green pastures. However, for the time being Jeeto (Sudha Bhuchar) spends her time nursing a cup of chai whilst trying to convince her son Pal (Rez Kempton) that, despite his reluctance to do so, it is his familial duty to continue running his late father’s corner shop. Pal’s western wife Liz, who is played endearingly by former Eastenders and Mr Selfridge actress Lauren Crace, is bubbly, well-versed and assimilated into Punjabi culture and desperate to start a family of her own. Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s aptly named play Khandan (which translates as “family”) is a detailed study of the complex interaction, dynamics and cultural difference between the various generations within the Gill family. Khandan is a real joy to watch, tackling so many of the same thematic strands that this gem of a play could easily be mistaken for the sequel of Damien O’Donnell’s much-loved film East is East.

Khandan is so well paced and naturalistic it is easy to forget that you are watching a play at all, instead it feels like the audience have all been invited into the Gill family’s homely living room and offered their own cup of chai. This is largely thanks to Kaur Bhatti’s character-driven narrative that is executed superbly by the small cast of six. The best word to describe this well-nuanced piece of theatre would be ‘authentic’ – everything from the rotis and saag that are cooked live on stage right through to comedic moments, such as when Jeeto justifies that the reason she needs to shout down the phone is so that the relatives on the other end of the line in India can hear her. These moments enable the audience to escape into the naturalistic verisimilitude of the piece.

I particularly enjoyed Kaur Bhatti’s varied depiction of the female characters in the work: from Jeeto, the highly critical matriarch, to her wry and wayward daughter Cookie, and of course the over-enthusiastic daughter-in-law Liz, who is eager to please at all times. Each and every one of the female parts are multi-faceted and engaging to watch. My only slight criticism of the piece would be that the plot twist that is instigated by Pal’s destitute cousin Reema (Preeya Kalidas) is slightly predictable, and teeters on the edge of being soap opera-esque. That said, on the whole Khandan is one of the most enjoyable plays that I have seen this year. I would strongly recommend spending the evening in the company of the Gill family, sipping a cup of chai that Jeeto will probably complain has been made with too much milk.