Set in south London during Thatcher’s Britain, Hanif Kureshi’s My Beautiful Laundrette was originally commissioned in the early years of channel 4 television by the channel’s founding chief executive Jeremy Isaacs and the Channel 4 head of fiction David Rose. The original film was shot on location in 6 weeks by Leicester-born director Stephen Frears.
Originally staged as a world premiere at Curve on September 20, 2019 and directed by Nikolai Foster, this production of Kureishi’s ground-breaking film is directed by Nicole Behan.
My Beautiful Laundrette tells the story of Omar, played by Lucca Chadwick-Patel, who is sent to work with his enterprising uncle Nasser, played by Kammy Darweish, by his father, played by Gordon Warnecke. His father, once a well-known journalist in Pakistan, has suffered personal tragedy and has become disillusioned with the world, with Omar becoming his care giver.
Omar works for a time cleaning cars for his uncle, before he gets ‘promoted’ to managing a dingy, run-down laundrette. Nasser starts inviting Omar to his house, where he meets Nasser’s daughter Tania, played by Sharan Phull. There’s talk of marriage.
Omar meets Salim, played by Hareet Deol, at Nasser’s. He’s asked to take Salim home, and whilst on the way home, they get jumped on by three racist skinheads. One of them is Johnny, an old schoolfriend of Omar’s, and Omar manages to de-escalate the situation by rekindling their friendship.
He offers Johnny a job helping to do up the laundrette and soon a romantic relationship develops. The production explores gay and British Asian representation in the 1980s Thatcher decade, and the pressures on young British Asians at the time.
Huge credit to the characters of Johnny played by Sam Mitchell and Omar played by Lucca Chadwick Patel who portray their individual struggles and inner demons so well. Tania, played by Sharan Phull is equally as engaging.
The set design by Grace Smart was industrial in its appearance with the laundrette as the backdrop forever changing and moving with the actors, creating the ebb and flow of the dynamics within the story. The fluorescent flashes on the furniture and props gave a brilliant ‘3D’ effect on the set.
Costume design was equally as effective, capturing the essence of fashions at the time. Lighting by Ben Cracknell is superb, encapsulating the emotion of each scene perfectly.
With music by the Pet Shop Boys, this production is a must-watch.
My Beautiful Laundrette is at Curve until Saturday February 24. Tickets £10-£35
★★★★
ACCESS PERFORMANCES:
British Sign Language (BSL) Interpreted: Thu 22 Feb 2024, 7.45pm
Captioned: Fri 23 Feb 2024, 7.45pm
Audio Described: Sat 24 Feb 2024, 2.30pm with Touch Tour from 1pm
There are also accessible performances throughout the show’s tour.
