Watford Palace Theatre to Premiere New Play by Neil D'Souza

This October Watford Palace Theatre will be producing the world premiere of Coming Up, Neil D'Souza's evocative, playful and magical new play about family ties, and how quickly we can become disconnected from ourselves. The play was commissioned by Watford Palace Theatre (WPT) and will be directed by Artistic Director Brigid Larmour.

Coming Up tells the story of Alan, who returns to Mumbai on business after more than 30 years. Between meetings and expense account dinners, he visits the Aunt and Cousin he used to know, and makes an unexpected discovery.

The play is one man's odyssey in search of his Father and ultimately, himself, against the backdrop of a changing world, where old power structures are shifting, and a once third world country is beginning to stand tall.

WPT Artistic Director Brigid Larmour said about the play:

"Like everything we do at Watford Palace it is an original piece, seeking to reflect the diversity and complexity of our identities in contemporary Britain. It is an ensemble storytelling piece, marrying text-based new writing with physical theatre - part of an ongoing collaboration with Movement Director Shona Morris, a Watford Palace Theatre Creative Associate. Five actors will transform into a rich range of characters - from vicars to 7 year olds to Aunties to tigers - on a magical journey between present day Mumbai and a Mangalore village in the 1940s, from upscale restaurants to a lonely clearing in the jungle."

Neil D'Souza added:

"In 'Coming Up' I wanted to explore my own complex relationship with India - a country I am bonded to by blood, yet with which, like many British Asians, I have had a distant, somewhat fractured connection with over the years.

The play itself partly grew out of its title - as, growing up, I would often hear Indians visiting us, say 'India is coming up'. Today you see it in the hyper-modern airports, the hyper-chic shopping Malls, and in the expectations of its people sniffing prosperity on the wind.

I also wanted to write about the Indian Catholics - a small, yet significant minority in India whose stories remain largely untold. I hope that by using 5 actors to portray more than 25 diverse, sometimes fantastical, characters, we can borrow the 'magic of theatre' to bring some of the 'magic of India' on stage."

Coming Up will be actor, playwright and comedian Neil D'Souza's follow up play to his acclaimed debut Small Miracle which opened at the Mercury Theatre and subsequently transferred to the Tricycle Theatre. Other commissions include a series for Granada and a sitcom for the BBC. As an actor his theatre credits include How to Hold Your Breath and Khandan (Royal Court), Much Ado About Nothing and Midnight's Children (Royal Shakespeare Company), Drawing the Line (Hampstead Theatre), The Man of Mode (National Theatre) and Tintin (Watford Palace Theatre/West End).

Movement Direction is by WPT Creative Associate Shona Morris, whose previous collaborations with Brigid Larmour include Love Me Do by Marks and Gran, and Jefferson's Garden by Timberlake Wertenbaker.

The production is designed by Rebecca Brower, Associate Designer on Bugsy Malone (Lyric Hammersmith) and Peter Pan (Regents Park Open Air Theatre), and designer of Heartbreak Beautiful Hertfordshire County Youth Theatre at WPT).Lighting is by Prema Mehta (Jefferson's Garden and Fourteen (WPT), Now this is Not the End (Arcola Theatre) and Music is by Arun Ghosh. (The Deranged Marriage, Rifco and WPT).

Casting for Coming Up will be announced in the coming weeks.

Coming Up will premiere at Watford Palace Theatre from Saturday 10 - Saturday 24 October 2015

Press Night will be held on Wednesday 14 October at 7pm.