Curve to release archive recording of Hanif Kureishi's My Beautiful Laundrette

Leicester’s Curve theatre is set to release an archive recording of Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette.

Based on Kureishi’s iconic and Oscar-nominated screenplay of the same name, the multi-award nominated stage production of My Beautiful Laundrette was directed by Nikolai Foster and premiered at Curve last autumn, before a national tour. The Made at Curve drama, which featured new and original music from Tennant/Lowe of the Pet Shops Boys, was co-produced by Curve, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse.

The captioned dress rehearsal archive recording will be released on Curve’s website at 6pm on Wed 2 Sep and will be available to stream until Curve is able to reopen its doors. The production will be shared alongside a recently recorded in-depth digital discussion between cast members Paddy Daly (Genghis & Dick O’Donnell), Kammy Darweish (Nasser), Hareet Deol (Salim), Jonny Fines (Johnny), Nicole Jebeli (Tania), Omar Malik (Omar), Balvinder Sopal (Bilquis & Moose), Cathy Tyson (Rachel & Cherry) and Gordon Warnecke (Papa & Zaki), Director Nikolai Foster, Writer Hanif Kureishi and Designer Grace Smart. Audiences will also be able to access a copy of My Beautiful Laundrette’s digital show programme, as well as a series of audio-descriptive notes detailing the production which were created for blind and partially sighted audience members.

Speaking about the release, Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai 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. Watching the dress rehearsal recording and the team reunion for our In Conversation has been wonderfully enriching. Kureishi’s words remain as vital and important as they ever did. We hope you enjoy spending time with these extraordinary characters and the Q&A session.”

The archive recording of My Beautiful Laundrette was taken during a Public Dress Rehearsal performance at Curve, where a number of seats were available to audience members ahead of the first official preview performance. To enable as many people as possible to access theatre, Curve schedules Public Dress Rehearsal performances on Made at Curve productions, with all available tickets priced at just £1.

This dress rehearsal archive recording of My Beautiful Laundrette joins a host of Made at Curve productions released online during lockdown, including Memoirs Of An Asian Football Casual, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest and Joe Orton’s What The Butler Saw.

Curve closed its doors in March due to the effects of Coronavirus and since then has remained committed to creating and sharing digital content, as well as supporting those in the industry. While all of Curve’s archive recordings and related online content are available for free, Curve is a registered charity (no. 230708) and audiences are encouraged to donate what they can online.