Synopses & Reviews
The play that gave birth to the smash-hit film a wonderful comedy about growing up in multiracial Salford.
Pakistani chip-shop owner George Khan 'Genghis' to his kids is determined to give his six children a strict Muslim upbringing against the unforgiving backdrop of 1970s Salford. Household tensions reach breaking point as their long-suffering English mother, Ella, gets caught in the crossfire her loyalty divided between her marriage and the free will of her children.
Ayub Khan Din's 'astonishingly assured first play' (Bimingham Post) premiered in 1996, in a co-production between Tamasha Theatre Company, Birmingham Rep and the Royal Court. The film adaptation that followed, with a screenplay by the author, became one of the most successful British films ever made.
This edition contains a revised version of the play first performed at the Trafalgar Studios, London, in October 2014, in a Jamie Lloyd production featuring playwright Ayub Khan Din as George and Jane Horrocks as Ella.
'What is remarkable about this play is its mixture of dramatic sympathy and delightful comedy' - Daily Telegraph
'a bona fide classic' - Guardian
'full of intelligence, irresistible laughter and serious promise' - Sunday Times
'A hugely entertaining, highly involving, emotionally tender, politically inflamed family drama' - Time Out
Synopsis
A new edition of the beloved play about multiracial families, published to coincide with a major 2014 West End revival.
Synopsis
A new edition of the beloved play about multiracial families, published to coincide with a major 2014 West End revival. It's 1970's Salford and the Khan children, entangled in arranged marriages and bell-bottoms, caught between their Pakistani father's insistence on Asian traditions, their English mother's laissez-faire attitude, and their own wish to become citizens of the modern world.
About the Author
Ayub Khan Din is a British Pakistani actor and playwright. His play East is East won the John Whiting and Writers Guild Awards and the film version won Best Film at the British Comedy Awards. Other work includes Last Dance at Dum Dum and Notes on Falling Leaves, both staged by the Royal Court and Rafta, Rafta
for the National Theatre, later filmed as All In Good Time.