Nikolai Foster’s staging of My Beautiful Laundrette, based on Hanif Kureishi’s Oscar-nominated 1985 screenplay, is available to watch online for free.
The production, co-produced by Leicester’s Curve, Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre and Leeds Playhouse, was filmed for archive purposes during a dress rehearsal at Curve in 2019. It features original music by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys. Gordon Warnecke, who appeared in the original film as Omar, returns to the story in the role of Omar’s father.
The captioned recording will remain available to stream online until Curve is able to reopen its doors for public performances. It is being shared with a recently recorded digital discussion between Foster, Kureishi, designer Grace Smart and cast members Paddy Daly (Genghis and Dick O’Donnell), Kammy Darweish (Nasser), Hareet Deol (Salim), Jonny Fines (Johnny), Nicole Jebeli (Tania), Omar Malik (Omar), Balvinder Sopal (Bilquis and Moose), Cathy Tyson (Rachel and Cherry) and Gordon Warnecke (Papa and Zaki).
Curve chief executive Chris Stafford and artistic director Foster said, “working with Hanif, the acting company and production team on My Beautiful Laundrette was a truly joyful experience for all of us at Curve. Kureishi’s words remain as vital and important as they ever did.”
My Beautiful Laundrette is available to watch at the Belgrade web site.