BWW Reviews: EAST IS EAST, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, August 10 2015

Although East is East is best known as a film, it did originally start off as a play. Set in 1970, George Khan is trying to give his family a strict Muslim upbringing in Salford.

The play opens with the discovery that the youngest of the Khans hasn't been circumcised at age thirteen. This establishes George Khan's attitude about how his children should be good Muslims and good Pakistanis and that they will bring shame on him if they don't do as he says. He goes on to express that he thinks his teenage daughter Meenah dresses like a prostitute, despite her skirt being school uniform regulation. The play goes on to explore other issues facing the family such as arranged marriage and the excommunication of their oldest son who left home to become a hairdresser.

Ella Khan (played by Pauline McLynn) is George's wife and the mother of his seven children. Although she wants to make her husband happy, she is a lot more lenient on the children. Her husband is constantly comparing her to his wife back in Pakistan and telling her that she is inferior.

There is an interesting balance in East Is East. While the domestic abuse scenes are uncomfortable and hard to watch, there is a lot of humour in the play as well. This is an excellent staging which has been very well cast. The set is fantastic and manages to convey the overcrowding of their small terrace. The social commentary throughout is interesting but for me the real heart of the play is in the humour and the portrayal of the family unit.

East Is East is at the Theatre Royal Glasgow until Saturday 15th August.

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