Hobson's Choice

By Harold Brighouse and Tanika Gupta

Widower Hari Hobson has a successful dress-making business and three daughters. The oldest, Durga, is the brains behind the operation.


'Can't we choose husbands for ourselves?'


I've been telling you for the last five minutes, you're not even fit to choose dresses for yourselves.'


But when Hobson says that Durga is too valuable to lose and must give up all idea of getting married, she takes her fate into her own hands and starts her own rival shop nearby.


Tanika Gupta's new version of this classic 1916 comedy sets the play in a modern day Salford Asian community, giving a new generation a chance to enjoy the play's sharp wit and charm.


This version of Hobson's Choice was performed at the Young Vic, London, June - August 2003.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oberon Modern Plays
• Release date: Jun 30, 2003
• ISBN: 9781849438902

Harold Brighouse

Playwright Harold Brighouse (1882–1958) remains best known for his 1916 classic Hobson’s Choice. The story of how a tyrannical Lancashire boot maker is brought down to earth by his daughter and her simple husband, Hobson’s Choice has been much revived and was last seen in London at The Young Vic in 2003. It was filmed by David Lean with Charles Laughton and John Mills, and even adapted into a ballet. Brighouse brought a new and groundbreaking style to British theatre, portraying the bleak and harsh lives of the working classes, but combining it with a unique Northern flavour and wit. He was a leading member of the ‘Manchester School’ of playwrights, along with well known Northern writers such as Stanley Houghton and Allan Monkhouse, a group of writers all largely based at Annie Horniman’s Gaiety Theatre, Manchester. The Finborough Theatre revived Harold Brighouse's The Northerners in 2010.

Reviews for Hobson's Choice

[devenish_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

'Hobson's Choice' has always been well-known as both a play and a film,but I doubt if many today have read the book or know the name of the author. I came across the book the other week and have just enjoyed one of the funniest reads this year. It is a true classic of comic writing which is virtually unknown today.There is a lot more here than in the play and film and the ambiance of Salford in Lancashire wherein the action takes place is wonderfully realized. A pure gem.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a wonderful play! How have I gone all these years without discovering this little gem? I've never read it, seen the play or movie -- I'm not sure how I missed it! It was simply a brilliant piece of theatre. I'm so sorry that I'm too old to play Maggie. I might be enticed to come out of my theatrical retirement to direct this wonderful piece. In some ways, the plot is predictable but the brilliance of the characters makes it all work beautifully.