The Bombay Roxy Cast and Crew

The very clever and extremely talented guys from Swamp have been scouring all of London (and beyond) for the best and most talented individuals to bring to life our one-off immersive theatre production Night at the Bombay Roxy.

We’re thrilled to share that after many applications, headshots, lines delivered, improvisations improvised and songs belted out, we have our full cast and crew! (It’s all of sudden becoming very real).

Without further ado, introducing… Cyrus, Ursula and the Bombay Roxy team.

The lead roles will be performed by Vikash Bhai, who will play the role of Cyrusand Sophie Khan Levy who will play Ursula. They will be joined Raj Aich as Romesh, Seema Bowri as Farah, Manish Gandhi as Rudy and Harmage Singh Kalirai will play the role of the Inspector.

The live jazz band will feature Laurence Garrat on double bass, Miguel Gorodi on trumpet, Leon Greening on piano, Dave Ingamells on drums and Helena Kay on saxophone and clarinet.

This talented ensemble of actors and musicians will transport our diners-turned-audience members to the opening night of the Bombay Roxy, a café and jazz club housed within a former Art Deco cinema set in Bombay, 1949. The performance will be matched with welcome cocktails and a lavish dining experience of our best Bombay dishes as the performance unfolds.

Cyrus Vikash Bhai and Ursula Sophie Khan Levy

Night at the Bombay Roxy is a rich, immersive, Indian noir. We’ve been working with Swamp Studios, an innovative theatre company, led by Ollie Jones and Clem Garritty (from the award-winning theatre collective Kill the Beast). Directed by Eduard Lewis, Associate Director of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax (The Old Vic, 2015), the rest of the creative team includes composer Dom Jones, movement director Sara Green, lighting designer Christopher Nairne and sound designer, David Gregory.

The show will immerse the audience in the intriguing world of 1940s Bombay, where an unexpected and exciting jazz scene was flourishing alongside a uniquely Bombay version of the Art Deco style (the city remains the biggest and best example of Art Deco architecture in the world, after Miami). Whilst Bombay’s architects and designers studied Western Art Deco, they redefined it by creating a distinctive Indian style. Jazz was first introduced to Bombay in the 1930s by touring American artists who opened the city’s ears to new sounds. Local musicians were quick to catch on, and by the 1940s ‘hot jazz’ was everywhere. This was Bombay’s glamorous jazz age, as told in Bombay-based author (and our dear friends) Naresh Fernandes’ critically acclaimed book, Taj Mahal Foxtrot – the inspiration for this play.

The production will play out in the beautiful surroundings of the as-yet-unopened Dishoom Kensington from 27th November until 14th December 2017. For tickets and info see the production For tickets and info see the production website.

Dishoom Kensington will officially open at midday on 15th December 2017 and we’d love to invite you all to help us prepare for the opening by attending our soft launch. The soft launch will run from Thursday 16th November until Wednesday 22nd November (8am-11pm weekdays, 9am-11pm weekends).  You can all enjoy 50% off your food as thanks for helping out with this final stage of our training.

After the soft launch, there is a rather complicated opening-closing business, due to the theatre production. Please see our journal for exact details on when you can visit! 

Read the café stories

Suggested Reading

See the journal

Vaisakhi

Vaisakhi, a day marked across India by people of many faiths, is celebrated in the Punjab as the start of the new Harvest. It falls on the 13th or 14th April depending on the calendar for that year.

Dishoom Loves. Issue XV.

Spring has gently tiptoed in. As the days lengthen and the sun grows bolder, here’s a glimpse of what we eagerly await in April.

Ayesha Erkin shares one of her delectable date recipes

We’re turning page after page of Ayesha Erkin’s recipe book Date of the Day, featuring 30+ recipes for the modest date – timely for breaking fast and after. Our dear friend Ayesha has now kindly shared a recipe for you to make at home. Try it this Iftar or any time you need a salty-spiced sticky treat.

Celebrate Iftar with Dishoom

The holy month of Ramadan is upon us, when Muslims around the world fast daily from dawn till dusk. It is a time of private worship and spiritual discipline, but also of shared joy and abundant feasting. Families and communities come together at suhoor, the pre-dawn meal, and at iftar, the evening meal, to break their fasts with copious, delicious dishes. Join us on 7th April for our own Iftar celebration – for an evening of feasting and live music.