The six 1970s Salford Khan children are caught between their Pakistani father's insistence on Asian traditions and their English mother's laissez-faire attitude are torn as they decide on their identity as citizens of both modern worlds.

Set in Salford in 1970, East is East focusses on the Khans, a working-class family who run a fish-and-chip shop torn between the traditional values of their Pakistani father, George, and their desire to become citizens of modern Britain from their mother, Ella. Their English mother, Ella, tries to keep the peace as George secretly goes about arranging the marriage of two of his sons, Tariq and Abdul. George's plans fall apart when a visit from the prospective in-laws ends in anarchy. The play draws on Khan Din's own memories of growing up in the north of England in the 1970s in a dual-heritage family. He has noted that there were two major preoccupations outside and within his home at that time: Enoch Powell's fear-provoking anti-immigration speeches, and the disintegration of Pakistan in the 1971 civil war which, he said, 'mirrored in some way what was going on with us - my father the most, I think'. The play revolves around the character of the father, whose sense of bewilderment towards a fast-changing world translates into despotic behaviour towards his family.—Harriet Lane