It won't win any prizes for finesse, but if you're after a fix of that rom-com feelgood factor, There's Something About Simmy could be just the show.
Writer/director Pravesh Kumar had great success with The Deranged Marriage and here he returns to the loaded subject of nuptials in a tight-knit English Indian community.
There's more soap than subtlety in the flurry of brief scenes that make up his account of Simmy, a traditional Punjabi-speaking good girl brought over to wed bad boy Raj, who scarpers on their wedding night.
Despite squawking caricatured relatives, Kumar reaches a quiet place that has heart and depth. The sinuous Vineeta Rishi touchingly makes Simmy's final act of rebellion feel like something real, rather than a mere requirement of the genre.
Simmy, until 29 Sept (020 8534 0310, www.stratfordeast.com).
There's Something About Simmy
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford, E15 1BN
