His latest play channels family drama for a hilarious look at the British Asian life. Katherine MacAlister talks to the playwright Pravesh Kumar

When Pravesh Kumar watched his sister’s wedding deteriorate into absolute chaos and two police riot vans were called, he did what any decent playwright would do and wrote about it.

“A North Indian Punjabi family wedding with alcohol, stress, schedules and emotions, what could go wrong? It was a melting pot,” he chuckles.

A Deranged Marriage is the result and it’s at Oxford’s Playhouse this week, brought back to celebrate its 10-year anniversary.

Still funny, still relevant, A Deranged Marriage remains a healthy reminder of the need for theatre companies like Rifco, with 30,000 people having seen the play already.

“It’s a funny, sparkly, wedding comedy with a massage running through it,” Pravesh tells me, “so while we don’t do hard-hitting drama, our work is always watchable and funny, with a heart.”

And with other hits such as Britain’s Got Bangra and smash hit musical Break the Floorboards under its belt, Rifco is more successful than ever, as the more traditional theatre companies fall by the wayside.

Set up by writer and director Pravesh 15 years ago to entice and engage new audiences and celebrate Britain’s multi-cultural society, Rifco still offers us the chance to see a different slice of British life.

“There was no voice in 1997 talking about British Asians or depicting them. We are still under-represented in the arts. We should have our stories told,” Pravesh says.

Having grown up in Slough, where ‘keeping up appearances’ was very important among British Asians, Pravesh himself had to break the news to his own parents that he wanted to go into theatre. “My parents came over in the early 1970s. They wanted me to get a good job, and the arts was a no-go. They were horrified.”

So what is Rifco’s secret formula? “We are giving audiences what they want, and we’ve still got the same passion for it 15 years on which means we get very mixed and diverse audiences, many who rarely come to the theatre at all. But perhaps the most important thing is that all my work is based on reality.”

SEE IT
The Deranged Marriage is at Oxford Playhouse in Beaumont Street
until Saturday.
Call 01865 305305 or see oxfordplayhouse.com