Hanif Kureishi’s 1990 debut novel was so cool that its TV adaptation featured original music by David Bowie. Part coming-of-age story, part state-of-the-nation satire, it refracted 1970s Britain through the lens of a bisexual mixed-heritage teenager.
It seems fitting that his journey from the “miserable undead” of the London suburbs to self-realisation in the Big City has been reincarnated on stage since Karim (Dee Ahluwalia) is, after all, an aspiring actor, who stands on the brink of soap opera fame by the end. We follow his family life and parental adultery to sexual experiments with Charlie (Tommy Belshaw) and best friend, Jamila (Natasha Jayetileke). Adapted by Emma Rice along with Kureishi, it is a warm, ebullient production, lovable and cheeky, even if shorn of the edgier energy of the novel.
