THE FAR PAVILIONS spans the 25 years between the Sepoy Uprisings of 1857 and the Second Afghan War, telling the story of forbidden love between a British Officer 'Ashton Pelham-Martyn' and an Indian Princess 'Anjuli' . This epic story evokes the romance of India, the intriguue of the Rajput Court and the over-confidence of an Empire at the height of its power.
Set in 19th Century India, the story revolves around an orphaned boy, Ashok, initially raised by an Indian woman before learning that he is actually of English parentage. He is sent to the mother country, receives a British education, and as Lieutenant Ashton Pelham-Martyn, returns to India as a British army officer. Now his loyalties and emotions are torn in different directions. As a boy he lost his heart to Princess Anjuli, the Maharajah’s daughter, and witnessed a vile murder committed by the girl’s wicked stepmother, Janoo Rani. As a man he has to struggle with his sense of identity and his conflicting emotions - still in love with Anjuli, but engaged to the very English Belinda - until she rejects him because of his “Indian” upbringing - and then suffering further rejection by some of his regiment when they learn of his background. However, in all the machinations, warmongering and politicking of the British Raj, his adoring best friend, Lieutenant Walter Hamilton, in the siege of Kabul, sacrifices his own life to save Ashton and finally enables Ash and Anjuli to depart into the sunset, clearly on their way to their own Shangri-La.
Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Far Pavilions (The)
Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Far Pavilions (The)
Version 1
Far Pavilions (The) (2005-04-Shaftesbury Theatre-London)
Type de série: OriginalThéâtre: Shaftesbury Theatre (Londres - Angleterre)
Durée : 5 mois Nombre : Première Preview : 24 March 2005
Première: 14 April 2005
Dernière: 17 September 2005Mise en scène : Gale Edwards • Chorégraphie : Karen Bruce • Producteur : Star(s) : Avec: Hadley Fraser (Ashton Pelham-Martyri), Marina Abdeen (Sita), David Burt (Lt. Harkness), Kabir Bedi (Koda Dad Khan Sahib), Stewart Scudamore ( Maharajah), David Savile (Sir Louis), Sophiya Haque (Janoo Rani), Kulvinder Ghir (Maharana), Simon Gleeson (Lt. Hamilton), Dean Hussain (Awal Shah), Dianne Pilkington (Belinda), Gayatri Iyer (Princess Anjuli), Fiona Wade, Marina Abdeen, Hannah Chick, Meryl Fernandes, Graham VickCommentaires : Margaret Mary Kaye’s 1978 novel “The Far Pavilions” became a world-wide best-seller, and was described as “a ‘Gone with the Wind’ of the North West Frontier”. In 1984 the novel was adapted into an epic three-part TV mini series starring Ben Cross as Ashton, Amy Irving as Anjuli, and featuring Omar Sharif, Christopher Lee, John Gielgud, Robert Hardy, Saeed Jaffrey and Rupert Everett. It was another huge success with world-wide sales. When her permission was sought to turn the work into a musical, M.M. Kaye publicly wondered if this would not be a step too far. She died, aged 95, just as rehearsals began for its musical premiere. Several critics did, indeed, claim this was an adaptation too far. However, it was so splendidly vulgar, with lavish costumes, a sung-through score, an endlessly revolving stage-set, a touch of the Bollywoods and some gloriously over-the-top performances, that the overall reaction was one of pleasure.Presse : PAUL TAYLOR for THE INDEPENDENT says, "The under-cast and uninterestingly "effective" production by Gale Edwards boasts great costumes, one or two lovely sets."
LYN GARDNER for THE GUARDIAN says, "No, it's not high art, but it is not kitsch rubbish.
BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE for THE TIMES says, "If you feel like being swept along by romance, melodrama and Anglo tunes, you might do worse than sample Gale Edwards’s production."
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