Yet another 5 star review!
Posted on June 22, 2010 under News, Reviews. 4 Comments
Venue: The Playhouse Where: Oxford Date Reviewed: 09 June 2010 WOS Rating: The Indian subcontinent seems to loom large in my reviewer’s mind right now after last week’s expedition to the North Wall for Correspondence. Tonight we are back at the Playhouse for Rifco Arts’ superb Britain’s Got Bhangra. We meet our hero, Twinkle, as he is about to make the great leap from India to Britain to strike it big in the 1970s. He has the immigrant blues though, and needs to deal with success, money and his love back in the motherland. What is striking about the production is its unfussy use of, and clear love for, the musical form. To explain: new musicals commonly fall into the trap of putting their subject material before the story. It would have ... Click here to continue reading “Yet another 5 star review!”Britain’s Got Bhangra Official Merchandise!
Posted on June 18, 2010 under News, Updates. 17 Comments
BRITAIN'S GOT BHANGRA OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE!
Hoodies £15
Male & Female T-Shirts £8
Bags £5
Available in sizes S, M, L and XL. Please add £1.99 for p+p Contact us on 01753570700 or email us at info@rifcoarts.com.
Click here to continue reading “Britain’s Got Bhangra Official Merchandise!”“An enthralling, bilingual, musical extravaganza”
Posted on June 2, 2010 under Reviews. 4 Comments
by Debra Hall for remotegoat on 29/05/10 * * * * * Rifco Arts have really pulled something special from the bag with this production. I know the communication team were recently seeking help with publicity in and around the Warwick Arts Centre. Now, having seen the show, I really think they have something to shout from the rooftops about. Where do I begin with this? This is totally unique in regard to anything I have experienced in theatre to date. It is an education, an exciting, funny, yet poignant journey through British Bhangra history. This is the finest example of a collaboration of many talents; the music and the singing and dancing, all aspects of theatre work in particular the writing of this wonderful theme and the quality of the directing. The set design is superb. The concept has been three years in the making. The Asian cast has been expertly sourced and have come together ... Click here to continue reading ““An enthralling, bilingual, musical extravaganza””Britain’s got Bhangra – Metro Review 5 STARS!*****
Posted on May 14, 2010 under News, Reviews. 1 Comment
Big-hearted: Rifco Arts’s Britain’s Got Bhangra is full of energy Theatre Review Britain’s Got Bhangra Fusion Triumph is at Number 1 British theatre and Indian music have fused to increasingly fruitful effect over the years, from savvy independent companies to the 2002 Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced extravaganza Bombay Dreams. Britain’s Got Bhangra is the latest production from British Asian collective Rifco Arts and it feels like a benchmark: a timely, big-hearted celebration of a British pop-culture scene that stems from folk roots and incorporates everything from synth-pop to hip hop. The story might start out in rural Punjab – where romantic lead Twinkle (bhangra vocalist Shin, who made his name in 1980s outfit Desi Culture Shock) woos his bride Jussi (Natasha Lewis) – but it swiftly relocates to late-1970s Southall, as Twinkle sets out to make his fortune, sweetly oblivious to the era’s racial ... Click here to continue reading “Britain’s got Bhangra – Metro Review 5 STARS!*****”The Stage Review
Posted on May 5, 2010 under News, Reviews. 7 Comments
The history of bhangra music in the UK is related in tandem with the rise and fall of one of its fictional stars. Pravesh Kumar, Sumeet Chopra and Dougal Irvine’s new musical is a near perfect amalgam of traditional musical theatre and Bollywood. The excellent libretto offers us a selection of recognisable characters and broad redemption themes, matched with an evocative score. You certainly don’t need to be a fan of the infectious bhangra as the creators satirise and praise the music and lifestyle in equal measure. There is a wonderful ensemble cast at work here, led by Shin as Twinkle, the boy from the Punjab who travels Southall in search of his fortune. Shin has a strong voice as well as an emotional attachment to the music - he was a founding member of one of the leading bhangra bands in the UK, DCS - that lends credibility to this less than perfect hero. Every ... Click here to continue reading “The Stage Review”The Guardian Review
Posted on May 4, 2010 under News, Reviews. No Comments
**** 4 STARS! Genuinely new musicals are so rare these days that I rushed to the premiere of this celebration of bhangra: a form that, deriving from Punjabi dance, has now been fused with rap, reggae and much else to achieve chart success. Even if the book needs some tweaking, Sumeet Chopra's score is a delight that brings the audience to its feet and introduces a new sound into the stale world of the British musical. Conceived, written and directed by Pravesh Kumar, the show follows the fortunes of Indian immigrant Twinkle in the changing Britain of the past 30 years. Starting out as a Southall bus driver in the chill Thatcherite era, Twinkle soon turns into a little star with his singing at local weddings. He and his musical mate Rocky are snapped up by a producer, Mrs Shindie, who realises that bhangra means big bucks. But Twinkle's fortunes fade as ... Click here to continue reading “The Guardian Review”Docklands 24 Review
Posted on under News, Reviews. 2 Comments
BRITAIN may well have Bhangra, but I'm sorry to say I'd barely heard of it before this show. As it turns out, my ignorance was certainly not bliss. Based on this musical journey through the history of British bhangra, I've missed out. Infectious, heartfelt, colourful and full of energy - this is music that is impossible not to enjoy. Britain's Got Bhangra was the perfect vehicle to showcase it to newcomers and send fans on a reminiscing journey of re-discovery. Twinkle (played by real-life bhangra star Shin) was the orphan boy who left India for England in the late-1970s, only to find the 'golden' streets he'd dreamed of were simply filled with puddles from the rain. He found his niche through music and the burgeoning sounds of bhangra. Soon his local community was won over and it wasn't long before his band was touring Britain and enjoying the riches of success - riches that inevitably wouldn't last. If I was to be ... Click here to continue reading “Docklands 24 Review”Britain’s Got Bhangra Tech Week
Posted on April 26, 2010 under Interviews, News, Updates. 1 Comment
Britain's Got Bhangra has opened at the Theatre Royal Stratford East and runs until 16th May. Here is a sneak peek of the backstage footage of our Technical Week before the opening: Tickets are on sale at all venues and are selling quickly.... some days are already sold out! Britain's Got Bhangra will be on tour until 17th July 2010 at the following venues: Theatre Royal Stratford East, London 17th April - 16th May Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry 25th May - 5 June Oxford Playhouse, Oxford 8 June - 12 June Watford Palace Theatre, Watford 15 June - 19 June The Lowry, Salford Quays 22 June - 26 June Theatre Royal, Windsor 29 June - 3 July West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds 13 July - 17 July Click here to continue reading “Britain’s Got Bhangra Tech Week”
