''East'' is a 1975 verse play by

Steven Berkoff Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director. As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style eponymously k ...

, dealing with growing up and

rites of passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...

in London's rough

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. The play premiered at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

at the Traverse in 1975, with the production later transferring to the King's Head in London.

Notable Productions

World premiere Performed by The London Theatre group at the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary pla ...

as part of the

and later transferred to the King's Head, London.
Directed by Steven Berkoff. *Dad - Barry Stanton *Mum - Robert Longden *Sylv - Anna Nygh *Les - Barry Philips *Mike - Steven Berkoff 1976 Greenwich production Performed with a revised script in July 1976 at the

Greenwich Theatre Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London. Theatre first came to Greenwich at the beginning of the 19th century during the famous Eastertide Greenwich Fair at which the Ric ...

. *Dad - Mathew Scurfield *Mum - David Delve *Sylv - Anna Nygh *Les - Barry Philips *Mike - Steven Berkoff 25th Anniversary Production The 25th anniversary production, started at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley. The tour included performing at the

from 4 August (winning the Stage Award for Best Ensemble work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and it was performed at London's

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

on 15 September 1999. The production was also performed at Théâtre de Silvia Monfort, Paris from 7 March 2000 as part of the "Londres sur Scène" festival. Performed by East Productions.
Directed by Steven Berkoff. *Dad -

Jonathan Linsley Jonathan Linsley (born 17 January 1956) is an English actor who made his professional debut in 1980. He appeared on television in ''Last of the Summer Wine'' as "Crusher" Milburn (1984–87), and his film roles include '' Pirates of the Caribbea ...

*Mum -

Edward Bryant Edward Winslow Bryant Jr. (August 27, 1945 – February 10, 2017) was an American science fiction and horror writer sometimes associated with the Dangerous Visions series of anthologies that bolstered The New Wave. At the time of his death, ...

*Sylv -

Tanya Franks Tanya Christine Franks (born 16 August 1967) is an English actress, producer and writer. She has had starring roles on the television shows ''Family Affairs'', ''The Bill'', ''Pulling (TV series), Pulling'', ''EastEnders'' and ''Broadchurch''. ...

*Les - Matthew Cullum *Mike - Christopher Middleton A performance from the Vaudeville Theatre run was filmed in front of a live audience. The recording has been released on VHS, DVD and is available for streaming or digital rental on Digital Theatre. 2018 London Revival Performed by Atticist theatre company 9 January 2018 at The King's Head Theatre, London.
Directed by Jessica Lazar. *Dad - Russell Barnett *Mum - Debra Penny *Sylv - Boadicea Ricketts *Les - Jack Condon *Mike - James Craze The production was met with critical acclaim, receiving five award nominations and selling out its entire run.

Legacy

Reputation ''East'' was listed as one of 100 of the “best and most influential plays” performed in Britain from 1945 - 2010, by the book and accompanying iPad app ''Played in Britain: Modern Theatre in 100 Plays''. The critic

Aleks Sierz Aleks Sierz is a British theatre critic. He is known for coining the term " In-yer-face theatre", which was the title of a book he published in 2001. Sierz was educated at Manchester University and holds a PhD from Westminster University. He wo ...

has called the play an "in-yer-face classic" and has named Berkoff as "a pioneer of in-yer-face theatre". The label of

in-yer-face theatre In-yer-face theatre is a term used to describe a confrontational style and sensibility of drama that emerged in Great Britain in the 1990s. This term was borrowed by British theatre critic Aleks Sierz as the title of his book, ''In-Yer-Face Theat ...

, popularised by Sierz, is used to describe a confrontational style and sensibility of drama, which became prominent in new plays performed in Britain during the 1990s. However, Sierz has cited ''East'' (along with some other plays) as being "an exception" for fitting the category of in-yer-face theatre prior to the 1990s. Influence ''East'' has been cited as inspiring some of the work of a variety of playwrights and theatre makers. The critic

Lyn Gardner Lyn Gardner is a British theatre critic, children's writer and journalist who contributes reviews and articles to ''The Stage,'' '' Stagedoor'' and has written for ''The Guardian''. Theatre critic and educator A graduate in drama and English from ...

has stated that the play "foreshadowed the physical-theatre boom of the 80s and 90s. East and Berkoff helped inspire all those companies such as

Theatre de Complicite Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

Frantic Assembly Frantic Assembly is a theatre production company. They have worked in over 40 countries and are widely studied as practitioners for A-Levels in the UK. Background Frantic Assembly was formed by three students of Swansea University in 1994. No ...

." Early in his career the playwright

Mark Ravenhill Mark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist. Ravenhill is one of the most widely performed playwrights in British theatre of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His major plays include ''Shoppin ...

wrote the short play ''Blood Brood'', which was performed at the 1987

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. Ravenhill described his play as "the story of the Kray twins in blank verse, inspired by Berkoff's ''East''." The actor, director, stage manager and writer Harry Gibson mounted "the first revival of ''East'' outside London, in 1978" and has cited the play as "the biggest influence" on his stage adaptation of

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...

's novel ''

Trainspotting Trainspotting may refer to: * Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads * ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh ** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel *** ''Trainspotting'' (soundtr ...

''. Actor and playwright Elliot Warren wrote his 2016 verse play ''Flesh and Bone'' as a result of being unable to afford the rights to perform ''East''. Warren's ''Flesh and Bone'' was strongly influenced by Berkoff's play and went on to win multiple awards, including the 2019 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre.''Flesh and Bone'' on publisher Nick Hern Books website
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References

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External links

1975 plays Comedy plays West End plays Plays by Steven Berkoff Plays set in London

Notable Productions

Legacy

Further reading

References

External links