Three decades on the iconic comedy continues to delight and find new audiences
The TV is on in the background and you spy a film from ‘back in the day’ and that immediately stops the scroll.
One of the films that does it for me, is East is East. The 1999 smash comedy gem always makes me smile, and god knows we need some joy in the world right now. I continue finding East Is East incisive, offering a wry analysis on life for a mixed heritage family in the 1970s. It is sometimes funny, often dark, with a brewing culture clash and sparky dialogue that makes it compulsory viewing.
I am forever intrigued by adaptations and wondering how the new versions will turn out. So imagine my joy when I discovered beloved film East Is East is readying for a theatrical showing this year.
The Salford set story follows the trials and tribulations of British-Pakistani family. It started life as a heavily autobiographical play penned by Ayub Khan Din who used lived experience to weave into the bittersweet narrative. The play was first staged in Birmingham in 1996, and the film version that we know and love hit cinemas in 1999, making the East Is East canon 30 years old.
I no longer have to lament missing the original theatrical show from three decades ago, because the 2026 East Is East theatre casting announcement landed in my inbox earlier this morning.
It is a collaborative production from Octagon Theatre Bolton, Citizens Theatre Glasgow, Wiltshire Creative Production and Derby Theatre showing this autumn.
Where is East Is East showing 2026?
East Is East opens in Bolton, heading to Glasgow, Derby and Salisbury. Here are the dates:
Bolton – Octagon Theatre, Friday 4 September – Saturday 3 October 2026
Glasgow – Citizens Theatre, Wednesday 7 – Saturday 17 October 2026
Derby – Derby Theatre, Tuesday 20 – Saturday 24 October 2026
Salisbury – Salisbury Playhouse, Tuesday 3 – Saturday 14 November 2026
East Is East cast 2026
The anniversary production will be directed by Kash Arshad.
Fresh from Broadway and making a welcome return to the Octagon, is stage and screen actor Bhasker Patel (Oedipus, Broadway & West End; Emmerdale ITV). Bhasker leads a stellar cast as the patriarchal George alongside Stockport-born actor Samantha Power (Brassic, Sky; Madame Blanc, Channel 5) as his wife Ella.
Exploring identity, generational conflict and the unbreakable bonds of family the cast of this razor-sharp comedy includes Zaki Ali (Good Ship Murder, Channel 5; First Days Gala, National Youth Theatre) Victoria Brazier (The Snow Queen, Dukes Lancaster) Sushil Chudasama (No Such Thing as Ordinary, Royal Exchange; Number One Fan, Channel 5) Maya Dhokia (The Jungle Book, Theatre by the Lake; Gorgon, Short Film), Zoe Iqbal (Odd Squad, CBBC) Matthew Khan (Waterloo Road, BBC; Hamlet, Gatehouse Theatre) Joeravar Sangha (All’s Well That Ends Well, Royal Shakespeare Company), Rahul Sidhu (Try Running Now, Short Film; The Buckingham Murders, Feature Film) and Danyal Ismail (Virdee, BBC; Ridley, ITV). Completing the cast is Rohan MacLeod who steps from his part-time job is the Octagon’s restaurant and café onto the mainstage of the theatre to take on the role of Sajit Khan.
Kash Arshad, director of East is East said: “East is East is my story. There are not many plays that speak to the experience of being brought up in a Muslim household, with a white British mother and a Pakistani father, who ran his own business, with kids who felt not British enough to be British nor Pakistani enough to be Pakistani.
“To get the opportunity to direct this play at the theatre where I started my directing journey and to be able to share it with audiences in Salisbury, Derby and the Citizens in Glasgow, my local theatre in my late teens/early twenties and where I first set foot on a professional stage, is a dream.
“The play is a modern classic, with brilliantly observed, memorable characters. And at its heart a strong matriarch in Ella holding this family of misfits together. She reminds me so much of my own mum. It’s raucous, moving, full of truth and really funny.”
For more information about the show visit Derby Theatre website here.