Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti (born Watford) is a British Sikh writer. She has written extensively for stage, screen and radio.

Life

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s first play Behsharam (Shameless) broke box office records when it played at Soho Theatre and the Birmingham Rep in 2001. Her play Behzti (Dishonour) was controversially cancelled by the Birmingham Rep after violent protests against the play. death threats forced Bhatti to go into hiding.^[1]

In 2005 Behzti won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for the best English language play written by a woman.^[2][3]

In 2006 Behzti was translated into French and did sell-out tours in France and Belgium. Behzti was translated into Italian in 2012 and was performed in Bari, Italy.

In 2010 her follow-up to Behzti titled Behud (Beyond Belief) ^[4] was co-produced by Soho Theatre and Coventry Belgrade and shortlisted for the John Whiting Award.

In 2014, Khandan (Family) opened to sell out audiences at the Birmingham Rep and the Royal Court Theatre.

In June 2014, her first anthology of plays - Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti : PLAYS ONE was published by Oberon Books (ISBN 9781783191307).

She is now working on a stage commission for the 'National Theatre'. Gurpreet also regularly writes for The Archers,^[5] the Radio 4 drama serial.

Awards

• 2003 Nominated for the Race in the Media Award, by the Commission for Racial Equality in the radio music/entertainment category for North East South West.^[6] Information about CRE and RIMA are no more maintained at their new EHRC website.
• Asian Women of Achievement awards, nominated twice ^[7]
• 2005 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, a US-based award of $10,000 made annually to the best English language play by a woman, for Behzti.^[2][3]
• 2010 Behud (Beyond Belief) nominated for the John Whiting Award

Works

Plays

• Behsharam (Shameless). Oberon Books. 1 April 2002. ISBN 978-1-84002-249-0.  Soho Theatre, London 2001
• Behzti (Dishonour). Oberon Books. 1 September 2005. ISBN 978-1-84002-522-4.  The Door, Birmingham Rep, Birmingham, UK 2005
• Come to Where I'm From, "Come to Where I'm From - Watford". 19 Dec 2010. , Listen to the Podcast at Painesplough
• Behud (Beyond Belief). Oberon Books. April 2010. ISBN 978-1-84943-096-8.  Soho Theatre, London 2010
• Londonee, "World Premiere at Rich Mix Theatre". 25 May 2012.  Mukul and Ghetto Tigers and Lifeguard Productions
• Two Old Ladies, Leicester Haymarket 2000
• Fourteen (2014),^[8] "Premeier at Watford Palace Theatre". 21 May 2014.  Watford Palace Theatre commissioned ‘Fourteen’ after Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti wrote a short play for ‘Come To Where I’m From’ in 2010, co-produced by Watford Palace Theatre and Paines Plough
• Khandan (Family) (2014),^[9] "Premiere at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre". 22 May 2014. ISBN 978-1-78319-093-5.  A Royal Court Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre Co-production

Radio, Films, TelePlays

• Heart of Darkness (Feb 2013), Stone, BBC Radio 4
• The Archers (2012),^[5] BBC Radio 4
• Everywhere and Nowhere, Feature Film, 2011
• Dead Meat, half-hour film produced by Channel 4 as part of the Dogma TV season
• Stitched Up, Commissioned Series for BBC1
• Honour, Single Film for BBC2
• The Cleaner, Hour-long Film for BBC1
• Lipstick and Nails, Police Drama for Great Meadow Productions
• Pound Shop Boys, originally commissioned by October Films/Film Council/Scottish Screen and developed through PAL
• Airport 2000, Leicester Haymarket / Riverside Studios
• An Enemy of the People, 2010, hour-long episode for BBC World Service
• Fourteen Units a Week, 2010, From Fact to Fiction, BBC Radio 4
• Mera Des (My Country), BBC Radio 3
• My Lithuanian Lady, BBC World Service
• Westway, over thirty episodes – 1999-2001 – of the BBC World Service Radio Drama Series
• Eastenders, BBC 1, nine episodes – 2001-04

References