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.
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