Well-known Peterborough storyteller Del Singh tells the Peterborough Telegraph all about 'Bat Out of Peterborough', an upcoming stage play based upon his life growing up in the city during the 1980s.
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00:00So Dale, Bat Out Of Peterborough. Very briefly, what is it about?
00:10So Bat Out Of Peterborough is an original theatre play, inspired by my life story growing
00:16up in Peterborough in the 1980s, as one of a group of Sikh brothers running a heavy metal
00:21road show.
00:22A heavy metal road show. I'm guessing they were few and far between at that time, run
00:28by two Sikh brothers?
00:30As rare as rocking horse droppings, as they invariably say. I don't think there's anyone
00:33not in Peterborough, the UK or the world or the universe, where there were Sikh lads running
00:37a heavy metal road show.
00:38And how does it feel for your life story to be made into a play? How does that make you
00:39feel?
00:40Well, I'd like to think there's more to my life than just that, but that particular episode
00:41is quite exciting because it was probably the most fun part of growing up in Peterborough,
00:42I think.
00:43And at that time, I mean, what kind of time were we talking about there?
00:44So, it was literally the end of the 70s and the 80s. Politically, a little turmoil here.
01:01You know, you had the rise of a lot of the far-right groups at the National Front, so
01:04we had quite a lot of racism. And music was one of those things that kind of united people.
01:09And to be fair, DJs just didn't look like this. And so, you know, we broke the mould,
01:17some stereotypes, and had a lot of fun on the way.
01:19And you mentioned there the era and the music. Is that something that's likely to feature
01:25a lot in this play? Will we be seeing anything like, perhaps, the old show tune or anything
01:29like that?
01:30Well, music is at the core of this because it was very much the 80s, and a lot of people
01:34love the 80s music. And whilst the theme is very much inspired by Bat Out Hell, the Meatloaf
01:39track, we've obviously, so there's an emphasis on rock, but there's a lot of other great
01:42music that was around at the time because it was also the rise of disco around that
01:45time.
01:46And will you be directly involved in the casting process and the production?
01:50Less on the casting, certainly the production. So, it's a lovely lady called Beth Capilla
01:54who is writing and directing, and I'm kind of doing a bit of co-writing, but I'm also
01:58producing the play.
02:00And when do you think the play might be? I understand there's a lot of things to go through.
02:07Yeah, so at the moment what we're doing, sitting here in September 2024, in fact in these next
02:12two weeks we've got some kind of script development sharings that we're doing in Peterborough
02:19that the public can come in and participate on, just to get a view on it. And the idea
02:24is once we've got the script and everything sorted out, then we'll go for further funding
02:27from Arts Council England. And if that materialises, then yes, hopefully, fingers crossed, next
02:32year we'll be performing.