RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey is joined again by Vidar Hjardeng MBE, Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for the next of his regular audio described theatre reviews for 2025

A retelling on stage this week of Arnold Bennett’s 1908 novel ‘The Old Wives’ Tale’ set among the Punjabi Sikh community of Wolverhampton in ‘Marriage Material’ at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre with description by Professional Audio Describer Carolyn Smith.

About ‘Marriage Material’:

Marriage Material By Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, based on the novel by Sathnam Sanghera.

Three Generations. Two Love Stories. One Family Secret. “In our shops we will be Kings of England. And we will make this place our place. The Bains’ corner shop in Wolverhampton has been at the centre of the family for three generations. Against the backdrop of a changing 20th century, Mrs Bains is balancing running the business, caring for her ailing husband and the demands of her two headstrong daughters, who each have their eye on a different kind of future.

Fast forward to the present day, a family tragedy pulls Arjan Bains back from a life in London. The shop represents everything he was trying to escape, but with his mother insisting it remain open, how long can he stay away?

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti (A Kind of People) adapts the critically acclaimed novel from Sathnam Sanghera (Empireland). Directed by Rep Associate Director and 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony Director, Iqbal Khan (East Is East, Of Mice and Men, Tartuffe, SILENCE).

For more about access at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre do visit - https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/your-visit/accessibility/

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