Casting has been announced for Roxana Silbert’s forthcoming production Khandan (Family), which will play at the Royal Court this summer.
Running at the Sloane Square venue from 11 to 28 June following its premiere at the Silbert-led Birmingham Rep Theatre, the cast will include Sudha Bhuchar, Neil D’Souza, Preeya Kalidas, Rez Kempton and Zita Sattar.
The five actors will play the Gill family in Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s warm and funny new play about Jeeto, a widowed matriarch who has spent her life working hard and making sacrifices for her children. But when eldest son Pal begins to struggle with his role at the head of their expanding household and crumbling family business, the last remaining links to their roots in the Punjab begin to fray.
Buchar will lead the cast as the formidable Jeeto. Alongside her television roles in Stella, Casualty and EastEnders, Buchar has appeared on the stage in productions including Zindabad and Lotus Beauty at the Gate Theatre. The actress is also Artistic Director of leading new writing company Tamasha and My Name Is…, her latest work as a playwright, will play at the Arcola Theatre this spring.
Kempton follows his recent role in Hampstead Theatre’s hit production Drawing The Line to make his Royal Court debut as Buchar’s on stage son in the production.
Completing the cast are fellow Royal Court debut D’Souza (RSC’s Much Ado About Nothing, The Man Of Mode at the National Theatre) and Kalidas and Sattar who return to the venue following credits in the acclaimed theatre’s productions of Oxford Street and East Is East respectively.
Khandan (Family) plays in the Royal Court’s intimate Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. It will follow another family drama into the space, with Vivienne Franzmann’s sibling tale Pests running from 27 March.