Gordon Warnecke Archives - North West End UK

My Beautiful Laundrette – Liverpool Playhouse

28Mar

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

My Beautiful Laundrette – Liverpool Playhouse

Ignorance isn’t a religion, yet. My Beautiful Laundrette is based on the film from Stephen Frears and Hanif Kureishi of the same name. It is set in London during the Thatcher years and tells the story of Omar, a teenage British-Pakistani boy, who wants to transform his Uncle’s run-down laundrette inro the go-to place for locals. He runs into an old school friend, Johnny and convinces him to help with the laundrette and we get to see their coming-of-age story blossom. The film and play focus on topics of fascism, racism amongst other subjects, with an underlying love story. This comedic story is heartwarming, divisive and joyous throughout, almost an emotional rollercoaster, but there are definitely characters you root for and ones that are meant to cause the divisions. Omar is played...

My Beautiful Launderette – The Lowry

For those of us who lived through the 1980’s much of the story told in My Beautiful Launderette is familiar. The need to achieve at all costs gripped much of society and some people gave up principles for the chance to get rich quick. There was a growing middle class, not least in people who settled here from different countries. It was also a time of advancing rights in the gay community despite the long shadow of HIV/AIDS. Put that lot together as Hanif Kureishi did in 1985 and you have a very successful movie on your hands which went a long way to explore Britain becoming a multi-cultural society, those who embrace it and those who resent it. The story has now been brought to the stage and once again we meet Omar as he seeks to make a success of his uncle’s rundown launde...

Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette Takes Centre Stage in Liverpool

Based on Hanif Kureishi's Oscar-nominated screenplay, My Beautiful Laundrette stars Gordon Warnecke, who originally played Omar in the 1985 movie. Featuring original music composed by the Pet Shop Boys, this stage production is directed by Nicole Behan, Co-Artistic Director of Liverpool-based company Paperwork Theatre (Deep Blue at the Everyman). My Beautiful Laundrette is at the Liverpool Playhouse from Tuesday 26th to Saturday 30th March. Set in South London during the Thatcher years, My Beautiful Laundrette was nominated for Best New Play and Best Regional Production at the WhatsOnStage Awards 2020. The play tells the story of young British Pakistani, Omar, who transforms his uncle’s run-down laundrette into a thriving business. Gordon Warnecke, who played Omar in Stephen Fr...