Bhatti: Plays One

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti has written extensively for stage, screen and radio. Her first play Behsharam (Shameless) broke box office records when it was produced in 2001. Her second play Behzti (Dishonour) won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2005. Behzti rocked the world of theatre when it was cancelled after protestsin Birmingham, forcing the playwright into hiding. The play's closure sparked an international debate about offence and freedom of expression. In 2014, Khandan(Family) was co-produced by the Birmingham Rep and the Royal Court Theatre. This is her first collected works' volume.

Behsharam (Shameless) Two daughters, two mothers, one father, a cardboard cut-out and a foul-mouthed granny - a household at war and a family which will do anything to protect its secrets.

Behzti (Dishonour) Past her prime, Min happily spends her life caring for her frail, vicious mother, Balbir. Today, for the first time in years, they're heading out to the local Sikh temple. In a community where public honour is paramount, is there any room for the truth?

Behud (Beyond Belief) A playwright attempts to make sense of her past by visitingthe darkest corners of her imagination. Inspired by the events surroundingBehzti, Behud is the compelling story of an artist struggling to be heard.

Fourteen. 1983. Brainbox Tina's parents are always shouting, her mum says she's developing too quickly and her best friend Sharon has a dark secret. Thirty years later, Tina's life hasn't turned out quite how it was supposed to...

Khandan (Family) Widowed matriarch Jeeto has a strong sense of her past and principles. She's spent her life working hard and making sacrifices for her children. But eldest son Pal isn't following in her footsteps. What happens when the legacy of a father collides with the dreams of his son?

Auteur

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti writes for stage, screen and radio. Her first play Behsharam (Shameless) broke box office records at Soho Theatre and the Birmingham Rep. Behzti (Dishonour) was sensationally closed after protests at the Birmingham Rep in December 2004. Behzti won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the play was then translated into French and did sell-out tours in France and Belgium. Behud (Beyond Belief) was co-produced by Soho Theatre and Coventry Belgrade and shortlisted for the John Whiting Award. Khandan had a sell out run at the Birmingham Rep before transferring to the Royal Court.
Her latest play A Kind Of People opened at the Royal Court Downstairs in December 2019.
Other credits include Elephant, Birmingham Rep; Dishoom, Rifco/Watford Palace Theatre, Fourteen, Watford Palace Theatre; the feature film Everywhere And Nowhere; DCI Stone, Radio 4; Londonee, Rich Mix; Dead Meat, Channel 4 and An Enemy Of The People (BBC World Service).
Her first collection of plays, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti: PLAYS ONE, is published by Oberon Books.
She is currently writing screenplays for Moonage Pictures, Cuba Pictures and Martha Stone Productions. She is also adapting Sathnam Sanghera's Marriage Material for the Birmingham Rep.