Playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti returns to roots with new play a decade after Behzti controversy

A playwright whose work set in a Sikh temple sparked a riot a decade ago has returned to safer territory — and home ground.

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, 45, has written a play, Fourteen, about a 14-year-old girl in Watford — the town where she grew up.

It was commissioned by and will premiere at the Watford Palace Theatre where she had her first experiences of theatre. Now living in north London, the writer drew on clear memories for the play.

“There’s something about being on the edge of a big city, slightly removed from it, and I think that absolutely informs the story. This is where I grew up and saw my first show,” she said, adding that the excitement of the theatre provoked her path to becoming a playwright.

The premiere comes as another of her plays, Khandan, begins in Birmingham. It is her first there since some of the Sikh community — of which Bhatti is a member — forced the closure of Behzti in 2004 due to violent protests over scenes of rape and violence in a Sikh place of worship.

Khandan comes to the Royal Court next month. Fourteen runs from May 21 to 24.