Rafta, Rafta...

Rafta, Rafta... is a comedy by British Pakistani playwright Ayub Khan-Din adapted from the 1963 Bill Naughton play, All in Good Time. The play is set in the working class English town of Bolton, and examines a story of marital difficulties within an immigrant Indian family. Eeshwar Dutt is a first-generation immigrant and patriarch of the family. He has a troubled relationship with his newlywed son Atul, whose married life with Vina Patel has got off to a rocky start. The play deals with setting out and resolving these various conflicts.

Productions

London and New York City

Rafta, Rafta... opened at the National Theatre, Lyttelton in April 2007. Nicholas Hytner directed the inaugural production. Harish Patel played the central role of Eeshwar Dutt, with Meera Syal in the role of his sharp-tongued wife Lopa. The play had a successful run, receiving acclaim from both critics and theatre-goers.

An Off Broadway production of Rafta, Rafta... opened in New York on 8 May 2008 at the Acorn Theatre to good reviews. The cast included Ranjit Chowdhury (Eeshwar Dutt), Manish Dayal (Atul Dutt), Sakina Jaffrey (Lopa Dutt) and Reshma Shetty (Vina Patel).