My Beautiful Laundrette at The Everyman Theatre: Review

We invited local theatre enthusiast, Jane, to review My Beautiful Laundrette for us at The Everyman Theatre.  She left the theatre with plenty of intriguing food for thought. Read on for more details...

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Written by Hanif Kureishi, directed by Nikolai Foster and based on the 1985 hit film of the same name My Beautiful Laundrette has spun quite firmly on to the stage of The Everyman Theatre this week. Featuring brand new music by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys, the iconic film has been boldly reimagined to reach audiences of today.

The story is set in London during the Thatcher years where a young British Pakistani, Omar, sets about transforming his Uncle’s run down laundrette into a thriving business with the help of his friend Johnny. But this isn’t an inspirational heartwarming tale of fulfilled dreams and ambitions; it’s open to interpretation as a shocking microcosm of today’s society and all that is still wrong with it. 

In the backdrop of the 1980’s the old style dial telephones, videocassettes, leg warmers, rolled up sleeves, ill-fitting suits, synth pop and sweatbands add a touch of comforting nostalgia to the stark narrative of the play which brutally explores cultural and generational conflict, prejudice, racism, politics, homosexuality and gender equality.

Omar Malik and Jonny Fines are cast well as perfect ‘partners in grime’ Omar and Johnny respectively and the tender hesitance in their mutual desire is both believable and endearing. The doubling up of parts introduces a layer of today’s world to the 80’s film with a somewhat puzzling crossing of genders and races in roles. Paddy Daly portrays Genghis as a very convincing angry punk and it’s interesting to see the original Omar from the film, Gordon Warnecke, taking on the role of Omar’s father.

There isn’t really a plot as it’s not really about the relationship between Omar and Jonny, the affair of Nasser, the desire to create ‘the Ritz of launderettes,’ the boredom of Nasser’s daughter, the actions of the neofascist gang or the drunken father of Omar. All the stories just serve to shock in whatever form they can in a clash of cultures and beliefs. This is not a play for those who just wish to be entertained. It’s gritty social realism, which sets out to cleverly challenge how we think and question the traditional values we claim to live by in modern Brexit times. The humour from the original film was perhaps lost with the audience of today and the pertinent messages it strives to convey don’t make for the most comfortable of experiences.

However, a comment from a fellow theatregoer was particularly striking, “One thing’s for sure, it’s more relevant than ever before” and that for me is the most disturbing thing of all. After all these years, we seem to have come full circle with issues of prejudice, mistrust, ignorance and conflict being more prominent than ever and the call for ‘British Jobs for British People’ in ‘our own land’ being vocalised once more.

This isn’t a beautiful laundrette in the way you might hope or imagine and it’s hard to know what to really make of it but it should get your attention and provide plenty of intriguing food for thought.

For upcoming performances at The Everyman Theatre, including Peter Pan Goes Wrong starting on the 19th Oct, check out our What's On Guide.