Behsharam (Shameless) in Birmingham – opens in London

Dominic Rai speaks to Gurpreet Bhatti about the play.

The first play of actress turned writer Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti is being staged in London and Birmingham this autumn.

Gurpreet has already written for EastEnders and had a half-hour film produced for Channel 4. Now Behsharam (Shameless) takes to the stage at the Soho Theatre, London, from October 10 to November 3 and at the Birmingham Rep from November 8 to December 1.

The players include Nathalie Armin, Harmage Singh Kalirai, Shelley King, Rinn Mahoney and Johann Myers. Director is Deborah Bruce.

The Birmingham-set play, developed under a writer’s attachment scheme at the Rep, takes an original, disturbing and often hilarious look at British Asian extended families chronicling the lives of two second generation women, Jaspal and Sati.

Dominic Rai of Man Mela Theatre Company asked Gurpreet what was the original inspiration for the play.

She replied that she aimed to focus on two female characters who displayed extreme kinds of behaviour and put them into a highly dysfunctional Sikh family setting.

She said: ‘I started on the writer’s attachment scheme at the Rep at the start of 1998 and I have been working on and off on the play ever since. In 1999, the first draft was workshopped with a director and actors, which was a vital part of the journey'.

‘I worked very closely from the outset with Ben Payne, the literary manager of the Rep. This was an invaluable process. Through his support and questioning, I feel the play is the most like itself it can be.’

Although the play has reached fruition after some of her TV work, it was the first project she started – marking her birth as a writer. She is now involved in writing two more EastEnders’ episodes, a play in development with the Theatre Royal Stratford East, a BBC series, a Carlton TV serial and a film script. She is also running a playwriting course with the Birmingham Rep this autumn.

Dominic also talked to Shelley and Harmage, when they took time out of rehearsals at the Soho Theatre. They both wish the rehearsal period could have been longer. Both are highly experienced actors with just one year between their ages. In the past they have played lovers. This time, Shelley is playing Harmage’s mum.

They describe the writing as thoroughly ‘credible’, really getting to grips with the second generation British Asian experience. Harmage said he ‘knows well’ the character of the father, who holds his emotions back and finds he cannot communicate easily with his family.

Shelley, who has done a lot of classical work plus plays with Tara Arts in her 23 years as an actress, said it was great to be involved in new writing. She said her character is embittered after bringing up her children on her own and looks to the TV for ways to enrich her life.

Harmage, an actor and director with 18 years experience in the profession, said the play will be seen as relevant to the lives of British Asians – especially second generation ones. He was pleased to see a whole family depicted – from the grandmother down.

Dominic added that it was great to see some more British Asian contemporary drama being staged. Nathalie Arvin played the angel in My Dad’s Corner Shop, a previous acclaimed work from Birmingham Rep.