East Is East

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. The play was revived as part of Jamie Lloyd's Trafalgar Transformed season at the Trafalgar Studios, London, in October 2014, featuring Ayub Khan Din as George and Jane Horrocks as Ella.