Vinay Patel on the #DeliPod

"I don't think the victory is for a brown kid to see a brown person on stage and say 'That's me!', it's for a white kid to see a brown kid on stage and say 'That's me.'..."

When the idea of a Theatre Deli Podcast was first thrown around, one name kept on cropping up as a potential guest - Vinay Patel. As a writer, Vinay seemed to appear fully formed with his first full length play True Brits, which heralded him as a vital presence within an emerging cultural generation, whose work naturally flowed between stage, TV and film.

The path Vinay took, however, was ever more meandering, encompassing a love of storytelling, a relatively late discovery of theatre and a particularly difficult sell to his grandparents. On the way, Vinay and Roland talk about being in bands, writing work that you want your football team to see and why, in career terms, it is absolutely fine to take your time.

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Image and biography of Vinay Patel taken from his website

Recorded on 29 August 2017 at Theatre Deli Broadgate
Interview by Roland Smith
Produced by Lydia Thomson
Theme music by Luke B. Ford

Vinay Patel Biography

Vinay debut full-length play, True Brits - written as part of his attachment to HighTide Festival Theatre and published by Methuen Drama - premiered at Assembly Hall, Edinburgh Fringe 2014. It went on to be part of the Bush Theatre's new writing season, RADAR and ended with a three-week run at the Vault Festival in February 2015. The follow up, Free Fall, opened at the Pleasance Islington in October 2014 and was nominated for three Off West End awards. Vinay's next play, An Adventure will open at the Bush Theatre in September 2018.

His first piece for television, Murdered by my Father ("A brave piece of television ★★★★★" - The Telegraph), was released on BBC3 online in March 2016 and was rebroadcast on BBC1 in April. For this work, he was selected as a 2016 BAFTA Breakthrough Brit. Murdered by my Father was nominated for three BAFTAs, with Adeel Akhtar winning for Best Actor.

Elsewhere, he has contributed to the bestselling collection of essays, The Good Immigrant and is currently working on projects for the BBC, the National Theatre and Paines Plough.

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