East Is East: A Screenplay Book

Ayub Khan-Din’s East is East is one of the most significant representatives of Asian culture in British theatre. The play was a great success in 1996 and received many positive critics. In 1999 it was adapted to a film, which won a BAFTA for Outstanding British Film.
The story is quite comic, but at the same time deals with serious themes like identity-crisis and inter-generational conflicts. The plot revolves around a Pakistani immigrant, George, and his family in Salford, Britain in the 1970s. The play depicts what it was like for first-generation immigrants to adapt to a new life in a new country with a different culture and values but at the same time maintain the mother country’s traditions; how the second- or third-generation immigrants are brought up in a family where the parents are from two different nations with different cultural backgrounds, and how their identity is created.
Although the play is a comedy, it is also quite profound. It is an autobiographical play inspired by Khan-Din’s childhood. The playwright even portrayed himself in Sajid’s character, the smallest child in the family.
The play is realistic as it can be interpreted as a social criticism of the British and British-Asian society in the 1970s. Though it seems that the Anglo-Pakistani family is accepted by British society, there are some characters who express their displeasure towards the family. One of the neighbours, a white-skinned English grandfather of a little boy and teenager girl, tries to keep his grandchildren away from the family, but he fails. The girl has a relationship with one of the Khan boys and the little English boy is friends with Sajid. The boy even tries to imitate the Khans, for instance by greeting them in Arabic.
As living in England, George and his half-Pakistani children have to adapt to the white Britons’ culture. The parents run a fish and chips shop in the neighbourhood. It is very interesting that they chose to sell typical and traditional British food in a family enterprise. It is clear that it is because they want to be in favour of the British. George tries to fit in by maintaining his Pakistani roots and exercise those traditions and values. Meanwhile, the children are brought up more like to be English with Pakistani background, and this duality creates a cultural identity crisis within them. Among the 7 seven children, some of them are determined to give up their Pakistani roots and some of them are in between the two identities.
I really liked the story because it is entertaining. It is a parody about the immigrants’ life in Britain in the 1970s, but at the same time, there is a serious and realistic background of the story, which needs to be recognised while reading the play or watching the movie. It is a play that I think everyone should read or at least watch the film adaptation!