East Is East

Pakistani chip-shop owner George Khan – ‘Genghis’ to his kids - is determined to give said offspring a strict Muslim upbringing in the unforgiving locale of 1970s Salford.

Household tensions reach breaking point as his long-suffering English wife Ella gets caught in the crossfire, her loyalties divided between her marriage and the free will of her children.

Jane Horrocks stars as Ella and the play's award-winning writer Ayub Khan-Din as George 'Genghis' Khan in East Is East, the '70s-set modern comedy classic about growing up in multiracial England. One of the best and best-loved Britflicks of the '90s, Khan-Din originally wrote the piece for the stage. His casting in the central male role gives it extra resonance.

Following the success of Jamie Lloyd's Trafalgar Transformed season last year, East Is East is part of Trafalgar Transformed 2, a season of politically-charged, socially conscious theatre located in the Trafalgar Studios on Whitehall. The season aims to thrill audiences while stimulating open debate and dialogue around the issues central to each play.