Grand Opera House, York – 4 August 2015. Reviewed by Marcus Richardson
The much loved film East is East was a phenomenal success, so the play has to live up to the name. Needless to say I thoroughly believe that the performance offered everything I could want from the dramatic comedy.
The play follows the broken Kahn family haunted by the eldest child running away from the wrath that is Mr. Kahn trying to force his family into an arranged marriage. With the children living in fear, they quarrel over family matters and the way society views them. The events in the play are comedy genius with jokes about foreskins and Indian music. The leading lady Pauline McLynn stood out from within the cast, offering a witty yet firm character, her monologue towards Mrs. Shar claiming its own applause. The other actors I felt didn’t offer as much as McLynn, partly because she stole the limelight and drew the audience in. There was no multi-role whatsoever in the play which helps create the believable characters one would expect from a dramatic comedy. This also helps the audience as we see the progress of each character and how they change; this I love in theatre as it makes each audience member think deeply about each character. We see this in the character of Mr. Kahn as his story is more caring then we thought.
The stage followed an early 1970s vibe very much like the set of Blood Brothers. The terraced houses made out of stage flats made it clear that the play was set in Salford. Most of the play was set in the Kahn family home, with the addition of the family owned chip shop. The transition was done with a shop counter placed on stage, which makes for a quick and easy scene change.
The play themes were very important, with the family labeled as ‘half-cast’. The racial theme played a large factor as Meenah (Taj Atwel) quotes ‘we’re just the pakis that own the chip shop’. With such a sensitive subject to be made into a comedy, it could be risky to pull off, but the play made it work and the audience laughed, appreciating that the joke should be taken lightly.