![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/BCN-20260529-LUNCHBOX-01.jpg\")
The chorus shines in the world premiere musical \u201cThe Lunchbox\u201d onstage in Berkeley Repertory Theatre\u2019s Roda Theatre in Berkeley, Calif., through Sunday, July 5, 2026.<\/p>\nThe charm of Berkeley Repertory Theatre\u2019s world premiere of \u201cThe Lunchbox\u201d\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0be overstated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Based on the 2013 film of the same name, it is, to put it simply, a must-see. It is that rare beast: an art film that seems to have been heightened, intensified, not merely gussied up, by its new iteration as a musical.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Mumbai, Ila (Kuhoo\u00a0Verma), an unhappily married young woman and mother, sends a hot lunch off to her husband at work daily, packed into a tiffin (a multi-layered lunchpail, the Indian equivalent of a bento box), just as thousands of other city housewives do. A complex network of dabbawallas\u00a0deliver the\u00a0tiffins\u00a0all over the city, returning the empties, never misdelivering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Except\u00a0this once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The chorus shines in the world premiere musical \u201cThe Lunchbox\u201d onstage in Berkeley Repertory Theatre\u2019s Roda Theatre in Berkeley, Calif., through Sunday, July 5, 2026.<\/p>\n
A chronically depressed office worker, Fernandes (a dour, appealingly nuanced portrayal by Manu Narayan), in his fifties, about to retire and still mourning the death of his wife, accidentally receives the tiffin meant for Ila\u2019s husband. Soon enough, little notes are exchanged between Fernandes and Ila, and a sight-unseen relationship develops.\u00a0Simple as it sounds,\u00a0it\u00a0could\u00a0be\u00a0the\u00a0making of a sweet romance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0more. With\u00a0a\u00a0book and co-lyrics by the original filmmaker Ritesh Batra; music and co-lyrics by the\u00a0Lazours; and the delicate, empathetic direction of Rachel Chavkin \u2014 plus orchestration and a wandering violinist \u2014\u00a0\u201cThe Lunchbox\u201d\u00a0develops at just the right pace\u00a0and is\u00a0rich with layers and layers of modulated character development.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s Auntie (Anisha Nagarajan), who lives upstairs from Ila and cares for a husband in a\u00a0long-term\u00a0coma. There\u2019s Shaik (Aathaven\u00a0Tharmarajah), the over-eager new guy in the office, hired to be trained by Fernandes as his replacement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each character has a story that dovetails with the other main characters,\u00a0forming\u00a0a pattern of existential musing:\u00a0\u201cI think we forget things if we have no one to tell them to,\u201d says Fernandes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Character by character,\u00a0songs in \u201cThe Lunchbox\u201d\u00a0erupt so naturally\u00a0and are\u00a0so full of longing; it\u00a0makes\u00a0one\u00a0wonder\u00a0why people\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0express\u00a0themselves\u00a0in musical form all the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Choreographer Reshma Gajjar\u00a0directs a chorus that\u00a0enriches the story of Ila and Fernandes with texture and humor\u00a0and creates an immersive,\u00a0overarching picture of a city full of heartache and longing \u2014 and joy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything works, from\u00a0scenic designer Mimi Lien\u2019s towering set of apartment buildings in Mumbai; to\u00a0activities seen through balconies and kitchen windows;\u00a0to\u00a0smooth transformations\u00a0into street scenes and office interiors.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0even a charming little streetcar where riders jostle for space,\u00a0clutching\u00a0overhead straps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Performed as a long, almost mesmerizing one-act,\u00a0\u201cThe Lunchbox\u201d invites audiences\u00a0to be part of\u00a0its\u00a0microcosm,\u00a0its\u00a0teeming, vibrant, intensely colorful city in which lost souls wander\u00a0and maybe, even\u00a0by accident,\u00a0ultimately find\u00a0one another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Berkeley Repertory Theatre\u2019s \u201cThe Lunchbox\u201d runs through June 28 at the Roda Theatre,\u00a02015\u00a0Addison St., Berkeley. Tickets are $25 to $135\u00a0at\u00a0berkeleyrep.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Review: Berkeley Rep\u2019s musical \u2018Lunchbox\u2019 is charming, heartfelt, joyful<\/a> appeared first on Local News Matters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The charm of Berkeley Repertory Theatre\u2019s world premiere of \u201cThe Lunchbox\u201d\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0be overstated.\u00a0 Based on the 2013 film of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-338380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}