REVIEW ✭✭✭✭☆ 4/5
MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE
QUEEN'S THEATRE, HORNCHURCH
28 February - 9 March 2024
MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE
QUEEN'S THEATRE, HORNCHURCH
28 February - 9 March 2024
A Thought Provoking, Gritty Drama
Based on the Hanif Kureishi, Oscar nominated film, My Beautiful Laundrette is a rather dark play about immigrant life in the England of Maggie Thatcher. People come to the UK for a better life leaving behind any status they had, with ideas of what it is to be English. However, the scales soon fall from their eyes. Due to their work ethic, they achieve success in business, but are seen as interlopers. The Skinhead underclass sees them as a threat. As a result, Pakistani immigrants lose their own culture, and as they become too westernised, arealienated from their own. Meanwhile, the Skinheads can only respond with violence, as they feel they have to defend their own kind. Even the following generation who are born in England, feel as though they don’t belong. They no longer accept their parents’ culture but are not accepted as British.As the character, Johnny (Sam Mitchell) says in this play, ‘What is your own kind.’ This is definitely a play about alienation.
When the play began, I was taken aback by the set, whichappeared to be large grey boulders. There was also scaffolding with a large grey screen in front. It purported to be a two-way mirror, but wasn’t used as such. The cast climbed up and overthe boulders and scaffolding presumably to convey the bleakness of life, trying to cross over cultures. It was only when Omar's Uncle challenged him to manage the derelict laundrette of the title, I realised there were washing machine windows set into them. These were particularly effective when the laundrette lit up to celebrate its success, although we never saw any customers. As this is a small cast play, they probably didn’t run to any extras.
Everyone in this play manipulates someone else. Naive Omar (Lucca Chadwick-Patel) the young son of an alcoholic father morphs into the manipulative manager of the laundrette of the title. He manipulates Johnny into doing all the work, the uncle uses Johnny to threaten his tenants and the spivvycousin Salim (Hareet Deol) in his bright pink suit, manipulates Omar into his drug running.
There were some good performances particularly, by Sam Mitchell as the reformed Skinhead. He played the part with tenderness and sympathy although I found it difficult to believe he had once loved to kick people’s heads in for the thrill of ‘spiritual violence.’ In many ways, his character was the most decent person in the play.
When Omar meets Johnny years after they went to school, heis now a Fascist Skinhead who wants to reform, but there is a mutual attraction. They communicate with ease, but the gayrelationship, developed rather quickly, particularly as thiswould not be acceptable to his old Skinhead gang. They already felt he was a traitor working with Pakistanis. Johnny’s old friend the Neanderthal Genghis (Paddy Daly), who almost had his knuckles dragging on the floor, was rather a caricature, but that was probably in the writing.
Kammy Darweish, as the successful Uncle Nasser dominated the stage. He talks about, ‘This damn country,’ yet it has allowed him to become a successful businessman. After his white mistress leaves him, his deterioration is very well played. I also liked Sharan Phull as the daughter who isdesperate to avoid being a typical Muslim, by being having an arranged married. She wants to be like Freddie Mercury and break free, but then so does nearly everyone in the play, Salimincluded.
The script is tight, using language of the street, but there is also humour. There is also the added effect of music by the Pet Shop Boys, which creates an excellent atmosphere.
This dark, gritty play covers racism, adultery, arranged marriages, gender expectations, eviction threats, homelessness, and thieving. Life is brutal; Salim attacks Moose and later there is even more brutality when the skinheads turn on Johnny. The fights are particularly effective choreographed by the fight director, Bret Yount. There was also an excellent use of the stage by director Nicole Behan.
As the play ends, Genghis and his cohort Moose (Emma Brown) who also doubled up as the white mistress Rachel,trash the laundrette, but Omar and Johnny commit to a life together. This is rather an unsatisfactory ending as nothing has changed. There is nothing ‘beautiful’ about the laundrette. The play is not an easy watch, but it contains home truths that are still valid even after all these years.
A touring Theatre Nation Partnerships production, produced by Curve.
Ticket Prices
Mon - Thu & Sat matinee
£19* - £27*
Fri & Sat evening
£21.50* - £29*
Under 26 £8
Live audio description | Sat 9 Mar | 2:30pm
Box Office Team on 01708 443333 or email [email protected]
Age Guidance: 14+
This production contains strong language and adult themes including violence and racism.
The Tour continues:-
Theatre Royal Wakefield 11 — 14 March 2024
The Lowry, Salford 19 — 23 March 2024
Liverpool Playhouse 26 — 30 March 2024
Blackpool Grand 2 — 6 April
Review: Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
Based on the Hanif Kureishi, Oscar nominated film, My Beautiful Laundrette is a rather dark play about immigrant life in the England of Maggie Thatcher. People come to the UK for a better life leaving behind any status they had, with ideas of what it is to be English. However, the scales soon fall from their eyes. Due to their work ethic, they achieve success in business, but are seen as interlopers. The Skinhead underclass sees them as a threat. As a result, Pakistani immigrants lose their own culture, and as they become too westernised, arealienated from their own. Meanwhile, the Skinheads can only respond with violence, as they feel they have to defend their own kind. Even the following generation who are born in England, feel as though they don’t belong. They no longer accept their parents’ culture but are not accepted as British.As the character, Johnny (Sam Mitchell) says in this play, ‘What is your own kind.’ This is definitely a play about alienation.
When the play began, I was taken aback by the set, whichappeared to be large grey boulders. There was also scaffolding with a large grey screen in front. It purported to be a two-way mirror, but wasn’t used as such. The cast climbed up and overthe boulders and scaffolding presumably to convey the bleakness of life, trying to cross over cultures. It was only when Omar's Uncle challenged him to manage the derelict laundrette of the title, I realised there were washing machine windows set into them. These were particularly effective when the laundrette lit up to celebrate its success, although we never saw any customers. As this is a small cast play, they probably didn’t run to any extras.
Everyone in this play manipulates someone else. Naive Omar (Lucca Chadwick-Patel) the young son of an alcoholic father morphs into the manipulative manager of the laundrette of the title. He manipulates Johnny into doing all the work, the uncle uses Johnny to threaten his tenants and the spivvycousin Salim (Hareet Deol) in his bright pink suit, manipulates Omar into his drug running.
There were some good performances particularly, by Sam Mitchell as the reformed Skinhead. He played the part with tenderness and sympathy although I found it difficult to believe he had once loved to kick people’s heads in for the thrill of ‘spiritual violence.’ In many ways, his character was the most decent person in the play.
When Omar meets Johnny years after they went to school, heis now a Fascist Skinhead who wants to reform, but there is a mutual attraction. They communicate with ease, but the gayrelationship, developed rather quickly, particularly as thiswould not be acceptable to his old Skinhead gang. They already felt he was a traitor working with Pakistanis. Johnny’s old friend the Neanderthal Genghis (Paddy Daly), who almost had his knuckles dragging on the floor, was rather a caricature, but that was probably in the writing.
Kammy Darweish, as the successful Uncle Nasser dominated the stage. He talks about, ‘This damn country,’ yet it has allowed him to become a successful businessman. After his white mistress leaves him, his deterioration is very well played. I also liked Sharan Phull as the daughter who isdesperate to avoid being a typical Muslim, by being having an arranged married. She wants to be like Freddie Mercury and break free, but then so does nearly everyone in the play, Salimincluded.
The script is tight, using language of the street, but there is also humour. There is also the added effect of music by the Pet Shop Boys, which creates an excellent atmosphere.
This dark, gritty play covers racism, adultery, arranged marriages, gender expectations, eviction threats, homelessness, and thieving. Life is brutal; Salim attacks Moose and later there is even more brutality when the skinheads turn on Johnny. The fights are particularly effective choreographed by the fight director, Bret Yount. There was also an excellent use of the stage by director Nicole Behan.
As the play ends, Genghis and his cohort Moose (Emma Brown) who also doubled up as the white mistress Rachel,trash the laundrette, but Omar and Johnny commit to a life together. This is rather an unsatisfactory ending as nothing has changed. There is nothing ‘beautiful’ about the laundrette. The play is not an easy watch, but it contains home truths that are still valid even after all these years.
A touring Theatre Nation Partnerships production, produced by Curve.
Ticket Prices
Mon - Thu & Sat matinee
£19* - £27*
Fri & Sat evening
£21.50* - £29*
Under 26 £8
Live audio description | Sat 9 Mar | 2:30pm
Box Office Team on 01708 443333 or email [email protected]
Age Guidance: 14+
This production contains strong language and adult themes including violence and racism.
The Tour continues:-
Theatre Royal Wakefield 11 — 14 March 2024
The Lowry, Salford 19 — 23 March 2024
Liverpool Playhouse 26 — 30 March 2024
Blackpool Grand 2 — 6 April
Review: Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
My Beautiful Laundrette, based on Hanif Kureishi’s Oscar-nominated screenplay tours to Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch are delighted to share the exciting news that the highly praised production of Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette, produced by Leicester’s Curve, will tour to Hornchurch 28 February - 9 March 2024 as part of the Theatre Nation Partnerships initiative.
Set in London during the Thatcher years, My Beautiful Laundrette tells the story of a young British Pakistani, Omar, who transforms his uncle’s run-down laundrette into a thriving business. After being confronted by a racist gang, Omar develops a relationship with school-friend Johnny, a fascist skinhead. Against a backdrop of racial division, nationalism, rising inflation, recession and political turmoil, love blossoms between the two boys, as they set to work renovating the South London laundrette.
My Beautiful Laundrette is based on Kureishi’s ground-breaking 1985 Oscar-nominated film of the same name and features original music composed by the Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Originally staged at Curve in 2019 under the direction of Nikolai Foster, the play garnered four-star reviews from publications including The Observer, The Sunday Express and The Daily Mail, with The Guardian opining “an iconic movie, sharply reimagined.” In addition, the production received nominations for Best New Play and Best Regional Production at the 2020 WhatsOnStage Awards.
Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch are delighted to share the exciting news that the highly praised production of Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette, produced by Leicester’s Curve, will tour to Hornchurch 28 February - 9 March 2024 as part of the Theatre Nation Partnerships initiative.
Set in London during the Thatcher years, My Beautiful Laundrette tells the story of a young British Pakistani, Omar, who transforms his uncle’s run-down laundrette into a thriving business. After being confronted by a racist gang, Omar develops a relationship with school-friend Johnny, a fascist skinhead. Against a backdrop of racial division, nationalism, rising inflation, recession and political turmoil, love blossoms between the two boys, as they set to work renovating the South London laundrette.
My Beautiful Laundrette is based on Kureishi’s ground-breaking 1985 Oscar-nominated film of the same name and features original music composed by the Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Originally staged at Curve in 2019 under the direction of Nikolai Foster, the play garnered four-star reviews from publications including The Observer, The Sunday Express and The Daily Mail, with The Guardian opining “an iconic movie, sharply reimagined.” In addition, the production received nominations for Best New Play and Best Regional Production at the 2020 WhatsOnStage Awards.
Full cast details are as follows:
Gordon Warnecke, who played Omar in Stephen Frear’s Oscar-nominated 1985 film of the same name, returns to the drama as Omar’s wise but world-weary Papa.
Lucca Chadwick-Patel (Millennials, The Other Palace) will play Omar, while Sam Mitchell (To Kill a Mockingbird, Gielgud Theatre) will play Omar’s fascist former school-friend, Johnny.
The 2024 tour will see the return of Kammy Darweish (Linck & Mulhahn, Hampstead Theatre) as Omar’s enterprising Thatcherite uncle Nasser, Paddy Daly (New Blood, BBC One) as right-wing thug Genghis and Hareet Deol (Ackley Bridge, Channel 4) will reprise his WhatsOnStage Award nominated performance as Salim, Nasser’s right-hand man.
Completing the company are Emma Bown (The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Duke of York’s Theatre), playing the roles of Nasser’s lover, Rachel, and skinhead, Moose, and Sharan Phull (Pink Sari Revolution, The Importance of Being Earnest, Scrooge the Musical, all at Curve) as Nasser’s daughter, Tania.
The tour is directed by Nicole Behan, with set and costume design by Grace Smart, lighting by Curve Associate Ben Cracknell and sound design by Tom Marshall. Casting is by Harry Blumenau.
The tour will be supported by the National Theatre, as part of the Theatre Nation Partnerships initiative - a collaborative network of arts organisations, united in their shared aim to strengthen relationships with local audiences, schools and communities.
My Beautiful Laundrette will open at Leicester’s Curve theatre 17 to 24 February, before touring to Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch 28 February to 9 March, Theatre Royal Wakefield 11 to 14 March, The Lowry, Salford 19 to 23 March, Liverpool Playhouse 26 to 31 March and Blackpool Grand Theatre 2 to 6 April.
Tickets to the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch dates start from just £12.50 (plus 70p QNext fee). Under 26s £8. To book visit queens-theatre.co.uk
A Theatre Nation Partnerships production, produced by Curve
My Beautiful Laundrette
by Hanif Kureishi
28 Feb – 9 Mar 2024
Tickets from £12.50 plus 70p QNext fee | Under 26s £8
Live audio description | Sat 9 Mar | 2:30pm
Age Guidance: 15+
This production contains strong language and adult themes including violence and racism.
queens-theatre.co.uk
Box Office: 01708 443333
Gordon Warnecke, who played Omar in Stephen Frear’s Oscar-nominated 1985 film of the same name, returns to the drama as Omar’s wise but world-weary Papa.
Lucca Chadwick-Patel (Millennials, The Other Palace) will play Omar, while Sam Mitchell (To Kill a Mockingbird, Gielgud Theatre) will play Omar’s fascist former school-friend, Johnny.
The 2024 tour will see the return of Kammy Darweish (Linck & Mulhahn, Hampstead Theatre) as Omar’s enterprising Thatcherite uncle Nasser, Paddy Daly (New Blood, BBC One) as right-wing thug Genghis and Hareet Deol (Ackley Bridge, Channel 4) will reprise his WhatsOnStage Award nominated performance as Salim, Nasser’s right-hand man.
Completing the company are Emma Bown (The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Duke of York’s Theatre), playing the roles of Nasser’s lover, Rachel, and skinhead, Moose, and Sharan Phull (Pink Sari Revolution, The Importance of Being Earnest, Scrooge the Musical, all at Curve) as Nasser’s daughter, Tania.
The tour is directed by Nicole Behan, with set and costume design by Grace Smart, lighting by Curve Associate Ben Cracknell and sound design by Tom Marshall. Casting is by Harry Blumenau.
The tour will be supported by the National Theatre, as part of the Theatre Nation Partnerships initiative - a collaborative network of arts organisations, united in their shared aim to strengthen relationships with local audiences, schools and communities.
My Beautiful Laundrette will open at Leicester’s Curve theatre 17 to 24 February, before touring to Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch 28 February to 9 March, Theatre Royal Wakefield 11 to 14 March, The Lowry, Salford 19 to 23 March, Liverpool Playhouse 26 to 31 March and Blackpool Grand Theatre 2 to 6 April.
Tickets to the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch dates start from just £12.50 (plus 70p QNext fee). Under 26s £8. To book visit queens-theatre.co.uk
A Theatre Nation Partnerships production, produced by Curve
My Beautiful Laundrette
by Hanif Kureishi
28 Feb – 9 Mar 2024
Tickets from £12.50 plus 70p QNext fee | Under 26s £8
Live audio description | Sat 9 Mar | 2:30pm
Age Guidance: 15+
This production contains strong language and adult themes including violence and racism.
queens-theatre.co.uk
Box Office: 01708 443333