MUGHAL 'MARRIAGE OF FIGARO', UK TOUR 7 OCT - 2 DEC

Tara Arts continues its mission to make connections between cultures through theatre with Ranjit Bolt's racy new translation of The Marriage of Figaro, Beaumarchais' witty tale of love, betrayal and ultimately forgiveness, relocating it to the dying years of the Mughal Empire. Directed by Jatinder Verma and designed by Claudia Mayer the play will open at the recently refurbished New Players Theatre, London prior to a national tour.

Beaumarchais' revolutionary comedy and mockery of the upper classes sees Figaro, butler to a small-time Nawab (a Count) return to marry the girl of his dreams. However before the wedding takes place he learns of the Nawab's plans to exercise his ancient right to receive the bride on the servant's wedding night. With help from the spurned Begum, Figaro and his fiancé plot together to punish the Nawab for his intended infidelity.

Jatinder Verma says "returning the famous opera to its theatrical roots and re-locating it to India is a means of making new a very familiar story. At the same time, India's opulence - its riotous colour, its sensual otherness- makes an entirely fitting setting for this familiar story. I passionately believe stories have no passports; in these times of cross-cultural wars, it's even more urgent to simply see familiar stories in unfamiliar dress and colours."

Despite many recent productions of Mozart's famous opera based on Beaumarchais' revelatory play, The Marriage Of Figaro was last seen as a play in London in Jonathan Miller's highly acclaimed 1974 production at the Old Vic, produced by the National Theatre.

The cast includes Chris Nayak as Figaro ( Shared Experience's A Passage to India & East is East, Pilot Theatre & Theatre Royal York); Dina Mousawi as Rukhsana/Suzanna (The Fortune Club, Leicester Haymarket); Sharona Sassoon is Begum (Rifco Arts' A Deranged Marriage & Tara Arts' touring production of Ibsen's Enemy of the People) and Chand Martinez, Qasim/Cherubino (The Alchemist for The Cornish Theatre Collective and Romeo and Juliet, Young Shakespeare Company). Joining the cast is virtuoso musician V Chandran, from Kerala. He has performed at the National Theatre(Tartuffe & Little Clay Cart) and was a member of Footsbarn Theatre for 8 years. V Chandran was most recently seen in Tara's touring production of The Merchant of Venice and at Wilton's Music Hall (A Taste for Mangoes).

ABOUT TARA ARTS

Jatinder Verma co-founded Tara Arts in 1977. The theatre group's first production was the anti-war play Sacrifice, by Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. Tara's mission is to make connections across cultures, away from imposed caricatures. Patrons of Tara Arts include Sir Richard Eyre CBE, Shobana Jeyasingh MBE, Naseem Khan OBE, Hanif Kureishi, Baroness Usha Prashar CBE, Salman Rushdie and Nitin Sawhney.

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO - UK TOUR SCHEDULE

DATE	VENUE	BOX OFFICE
Sat 7 Oct 2006	Aberystwyth Arts Centre University Of Wales Aberystwth SY23 3DE www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk	Box Office: 01970 623232
Wed 11 - Sat 14 Oct 2006	Belgrave Beheno Peepul Centre Venue Orchardson Avenue Leicester, LE4 6DP www.peepulcentre.com	Box Office: 0845 310 3344
Tue 17 Oct - Sat 4 Nov 2006	New Players Theatre The Arches Villiers Street London, WC2N 6NG www.newplayerstheatre.com Tickets: £20 + £15, all conc £10	Box Office: 020 7930 6601
Mon 6 - Sat 11 Nov 2006	Bristol Old Vic 35 King Street Bristol Avon, BS1 4ED www.bristol-old-vic.co.uk	Box Office: 0117 987 7877
Wed 15 Nov 2006	Theatre By The Lake Lakeside Keswick Cumbria, CA12 5DJ www.theatrebythelake.com	Box Office: 01768 774411
Thu 16 - Sat 18 Nov 2006	Ramshorn Theatre 98 Ingrams Street Glasgow, G1 1ES www.strath.ac.uk/culture/ramshorn	Box Office: 0141 552 3489
Mon 20 - Wed 22 Nov 2006	Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Millbrook Guildford Surrey, GU1 3UX www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk	Box Office: 01483 440000
Fri 24 Nov 2006	Darlington Arts Centre Vane Terrace Darlington, DL3 7AX www.darlingtonarts.co.uk	Box Office: 01325 486555
Mon 27 - Tue 28 Nov 2006	Theatr Mwldan Cardigan, SA43 1JY www.mwldan.co.uk	Box Office: 01239 621200
Fri 1 - Sat 2 Dec 2006	Taliesin Arts Centre Singleton Park Swansea, SA2 8PZ www.taliesinartscentre.co.uk	Box Office: 01792 602060