East is East

About East is East

FAMILY CAN HOLD YOU TOGETHER AND TEAR YOU APART

Salford, 1971. The Khan family are living above a chip shop and on the fault line between two cultures. George Khan is determined to raise the family in his Pakistani way. His English wife, Ella, just wants to keep the peace. Their seven children? They’re busy discovering disco, denim, and defiance.

When George begins arranging marriages for his sons, rebellion erupts and loyalties are tested. What follows is a hilarious and deeply moving battle between tradition and change.

Join us for the 30th anniversary production of Ayub Khan Din's modern classic, a story about identity, generational conflict, and the messy, unbreakable bonds of family

5 Stars
loud, funny, painful, chaotic, and deeply human.
- Manchester Theatres

Image gallery

Help & Support

Domestic Violence

Fortalice is a Bolton-based charity providing frontline services for people who are, or have been, affected by domestic abuse and violence. Their support includes refuge accommodation, local community services and educational programmes.

Access support from Fortalice here.

Endeavour is a registered charity based in Bolton providing community support, group sessions, and counselling for people affected by domestic abuse

Access support from Endeavour here.

Racism

The Octagon is a third-party reporting centre for Hate Incidents. This means our staff will be able to support you in reporting any hate crimes or incidents that happen to you or that you witness. This also includes any form of online harassment.

What is a Hate Incident?

An incident that is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hatred based on someone's:

race, colour or ethnic origin
nationality or national origin
religion, faith or belief
gender or gender identity
sexuality or sexual orientation
disability
lifestyle or dress

Hate incidents can take many forms including:

physical attacks
threat of attack
verbal abuse or insults - including bullying

To find out more about how to report a hate incident please visit our Hate Incident Reporting page.

Bolton Council also provides Hate Incident Reporting services and also information about other local organisations that can offer support.

Find out more from Bolton Council.

Bolton Council of Mosques offer free support and guidance for anyone experiencing anti-Muslim hate.

Downloads List

Visual Story East Is East 5.6 MB PDF

Cast

Zaki Ali
Tariq
Training: Former student of the BRIT School and the Sylvia Young Theatre School.
Theatre includes:Town Planning in the Apocalypse (National Youth Theatre); Mark and the Marked (Box Clever).
TV & Film includes:Daniel (The Kooman Brothers); The Good Ship Murder (Channel 5).
East Is East marks Zaki's major theatre debut as Tariq.

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Victoria Brazier
Auntie Annie
Theatre includes:The Book Thief (Octagon Theatre Bolton); The Snow Queen, Treasure Island, Beauty and the Beast, Oliver Twist (The Dukes); Pride and Prejudice, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Jungle Book (Storyhouse/Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre); Make Good: The Post Office Scandal (Pentabus); Miner Birds, Alice in Wonderland, The Snow Queen, The Borrowers (New Vic); We're Not Going Back...
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Sushil Chudasama
Doctor/Mr Shah
Theatre includes:Partition (Leeds Playhouse); No Such Thing as Ordinary (Royal Exchange); The Phone Call – Memories of Partition (Royal Exchange); Teaspoon of Shampoo (Theatre in the Mill); One Book One Pen – Headphone Verbatim (The Dukes Lancaster); The Island, The Sea, The Volunteer, The Refugee (HOME); Star Cross'd (Oldham Coliseum)...
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Maya Dhokia
Meenah
Theatre includes:Twelfth Night (Dukes Lancaster/Hope Mill Theatre/Civic Heywood/Lawrence Batley Theatre); Unit H6 for Vignettes (HER Productions); Life in a Northern Town (Northern Broadsides – Workshop); The Jungle Book (Theatre by the Lake); Surety of Numbers – Remix (Box of Tricks).
TV & Film includes:Gorgon (TownKid Productions).
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Danyal Ismail
Abdul
Training: Drama Centre London.
TV & Film includes:VIRDEE (BBC); Ridley (ITV); The Outrun (Arcade Pictures/Brock Media); All the Lights Are Still Burning (BFI); McDonald and Dodds (ITV); Vera (ITV).
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Zoe Iqbal
Off Stage Swing
Theatre includes:Planet Omar (The Unicorn Theatre, Leeds Playhouse and Birmingham Rep); Snow Brow (Muslim Pantos); Road (Oldham Coliseum).
TV includes:Odd Squad, So Awkward, The Dumping Ground (CBBC).
She has been commissioned to write her first short film by Rope Ladder Fiction. Zoe enjoys gardening and browsing charity shops.
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Matthew Khan
Saleem
Training: BA Acting course at LIPA.
Theatre includes:Long Strong Hair (Octagon Theatre Bolton); Hamlet (Stafford Gatehouse); Mojo (Red Brick Theatre); The Last Quiz Night on Earth and Priestess (Box of Tricks).
TV & Film includes:Waterloo Road (BBC); A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (Netflix & BBC); Brassic (Sky); Doctors (BBC).
Radio includes:Undercover: Make It Count (BBC Radio 4).
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Rohan Macleod
Sajit
TV & Film includes:Coronation Street (ITV) and The Listeners (BBC).
Rohan previously appeared in East Is East at the Octagon Theatre in 2018 and is excited to be returning to this incredible play.
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Bhasker Patel
George
Theatre includes:The Comedy of Errors (Octagon Theatre Bolton); Oedipus (Wyndham's Theatre in the West End & Studio 54 on Broadway, New York); Camdenwalla (Camden People's Theatre); A Map of the World, Nation, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Tartuffe, Wicked Yaar, The Magic Carpet, Playing with Fire, No Zealot Like a Convert and Hebron (Royal National Theatre); The Vote, Silence (Donmar Warehouse, Tara Theatre & National Tour); Antony and Cleopatra (Liverpool Playhouse); Blood, The Great Celestial Cow...
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Samantha Power
Ella
Training: Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Theatre includes:Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (Octagon Theatre Bolton); No Pay? No Way!, Wuthering Heights, Zack (Royal Exchange Theatre); Rock, Paper, Scissors, Chicken Soup (Sheffield Crucible); Beryl, Accrington Pals, Coming Around Again, Me, as a Penguin, It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow (Leeds Playhouse)...
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Joeravar Sangha
Maneer
Training: St Mary's University.
Theatre includes:East Is East (National Theatre); Richard III, All's Well That Ends Well (RSC).
TV & Film includes:Billionaire Boy (BBC); Doctors (BBC); Professor T (ITV).
He has also recently been commissioned to write a large-scale South Asian play by the National Theatre of Scotland.
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Rahul Sidhu
Off Stage Swing
Theatre includes:Hotel (Jim Cartwright).
TV & Film includes:The Buckingham Murders (Netflix); How to Be a Person (Channel 4, BAFTA winner); a number of commercials and more.
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