Syal's Anita And Me hits the stage | Premiere at Birmingham comedy fest

Syal's Anita And Me hits the stage

Premiere at Birmingham comedy fest

Meera Syal's novel Anita And Me has been adapted for the theatre.

The coming-of-age story will be performed on stage for the first time as part of the Birmingham Comedy Festival in October.

The festival also features appearance from 'Weird Al' Yankovic, new Daily Show host Trevor Noah plus Henning Wehn, Lee Nelson, Chris Ramsey, Andrew Maxwell, Rob Beckett and Daniel Sloss.

Anita And Me is set in the 1970s and tells the story of Meena, the teenage daughter of the only Punjabi family in a West Midlands village who becomes friends with the feisty white girl Anita.

The novel was previously made into a film in 2002, in which Syal appeared as Meena's Auntie Shaila. Now award-winning playwright, Tanika Gupta has adapted the book for a production at the Birmingham Rep Theatre.

Comedian Janice Connolly, best known for her alter ego Mrs Barbara Nice, is among the cast, playing Mrs Worrall. Some Girls star Mandeep Dhillon plays Meena and relative newcomer Jalleh Alizadeh plays Anita

Syal said: 'I am so thrilled that Anita And Me is being developed and premiered at The Birmingham Rep.'

The show runs from October 9 to 24, while Syal and Gupta will hold an 'in conversation' session on October 10.

Click here for the full comedy festival line-up

Published: 13 Aug 2015

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