Set within London in the 1980s, it portrays the spirit of a city in transformation. The stage is brought to life with a multitude of colourful personalities, each with their own goals, challenges, and aspirations. The plot immerses us in the lives of Omar and Johnny, two people with radically dissimilar upbringings whose paths cross in the unlikeliest of places—a decaying laundrette.
The tour is supported by the National Theatre, as part of the Theatre Nation Partnerships initiative – a collaborative network of arts organisations, united in their shared aim to grow and sustain new audiences for live theatre and strengthen relationships with local audiences, schools, and communities.
The play’s power is found in its complicated characters and insightful dialogue, which skillfully combines humour with piercing irony. The entire evening guides us through its portrayal of a multicultural society, responding to rapid social and economic changes.
The actors are outstanding and kept me focused on the story while also making me laugh and think.
- I really enjoyed Omar (played by Lucca Chadwick-Patel), who did an excellent job of keeping us focused on the main character.
- Emma Brown was wonderful, and I hadn’t realised that she played both Rachel and Moose, she did really well at jumping between the characters of such polar opposites.
- It was great to see Gordon Warnecke reprising the role of Papa again after playing Omar in the original movie 40 years ago.
- The stand out was Sam Mitchell as Johnny, he did a great job of showing his character evolving and changing, while not being afraid to take his shirt off
At first, I got lost in all the character stories but, when all the stories came together, it was a wonderful result, and I feel quite grateful that The Queen’s Theatre presented this National Theatre performance.
My Beautiful Laundrette will be at The Queen’s Theatre until the 9th March, but it is the second theatre to see the performance and the show will be touring Theatre Royal Wakefield from 11 to 14 March, The Lowry, Salford from 19 to 23 March, Liverpool Playhouse from 26 to 31 March and Blackpool Grand Theatre 2 to 6 April.