Award-Winning Comedy East Is East Returns to its First Home
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
EAST IS EAST
By Ayub Khan-Din
Directed by Iqbal Khan
Friday 25 September to Saturday 17 October
Press Night: Tuesday 29 September, 7.00pm
East Is East - the BAFTA award-winning comedy about a mixed-race family in 1970s Salford - returns to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in a new production this September. The play, which premiered at The REP in 1996, was an instant hit and went on to international success as a film in 1999.
Ayub Khan-Din’s play is a warm-hearted and laugh-out-loud funny tale of what happens when two cultures clash within one family. For George Khan, owner of the local fish and chip shop, life is an uphill struggle to get his family to conform to his traditional Pakistani values.
His English wife and seven children on the other hand have ideas of their own. One’s already left home to be a hairdresser, his daughter prefers playing football to wearing a sari and now 18-year old Saleem wants to study art whilst 12-year old Sajit is about to be transformed from a shy gawky boy into a self-confident teenager.
With one disastrous arranged marriage in the family already, George plots to bring his next two sons into line by marrying them off to the daughters of Mr Shah. When the Khan kids begin to oppose their father's blundering attempts to control their lives, Ella is forced to make a choice between her husband and the right of her children to make their own ways in the world.
Director Iqbal Khan says of the play: “It’s wonderful to see the play return to the scene of its first production, moving from the studio theatre to the main stage. More than a decade on from its debut, the play has achieved the status of a popular modern classic. It’s very accurate to the time and very specific about the experience of a mixed-race family.
“It’s one of theatre’s roles to ask questions, and the issues Ayub Khan-Din raises have come around again - questions of religious and cultural identity have never been as acute as they are now. But the beauty of the play is that the portrayal of the family and the community is handled with such warmth, humour and compassion.”
East Is East was Ayub Khan-Din’s debut play, inspired by his own upbringing in Salford. The play won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best West End Play and Best New Writer, and the screenplay won the 1999 BAFTA Best British Film and Evening Standard Award for Best Film. Khan-Din’s other plays include the recent National Theatre hit-production Rafta, Rafta which opened its UK tour at The REP in 2008, Last Dance At Dum Dum and Notes On Falling Leaves, both for the Royal Court.
The new cast is led by Belinda Lang as Ella. Probably best known for her role in BBC sitcom 2 Point 4 Children, Lang’s recent theatre credits include Liberty (Shakespeare’s Globe), Hay Fever (Royal Exchange), Private Lives (Theatre Royal Bath) and What The Butler Saw and Dead Funny in the West End.
Joining Belinda will be Archie Lal (George), Sue Wallace (Auntie Annie), Simon Nagra (Doctor / Mr Shah), Darren Kuppan (Tariq), James McGlynn (Sajit), Johndeep More (Saleem), Chris Nayak (Abdul), Tom Reed (Maneer) and Anjli Mohindra (Meenah).
Set design is by Simon Higlett, lighting by Tim Mitchell and sound by Dan Hoole.
This production is part of the Birmingham Comedy Festival, taking place from Fri 2 to Sun 11 October.
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