"Learning to write is learning to work" - an hour with Vinay Patel

Vinay's cats

An whole entire hour with the acclaimed screenwriter and playwright Vinay Patel involves a lot of witty humour, personal anecdotes, stories about his BAFTA experience as well as advice and info on how he got to be where he is today. His was a riveting talk with DMU lecturer, Kathleen Bell followed  by questions from a keen audience who were eager for answers.

Patel gave us an insight into his work and how he got to be the successful playwright we know him as today. I have to say that I thought that Patel would be one of those unrelateable, snobby writers who seem near enough 'untouchable'. In actuality he is very down to earth. He admitted struggling with multiple deadlines, joking that "all procrastination is good procrastination" and also told us how, quite unintentionally, he came to be "running a retirement home for cats."

His humour certainly made me certainly feel happy to be at the event, which was also incredibly interesting. He told us about his up and coming ventures which include a touring production for Paines Plough as well as an epic drama, An Adventure, being produced at The Bush Theatre in Shepherds Bush, London. The adventure in question is based on the life of his grandparents who travelled over three continents (from India, to Kenya then England).

Patel also expressed his interest and passion for wanting to create pieces that highlight the talent of minority actors, as well as meaningful stories, like his critically acclaimed drama, Murdered By My Father (BBC, 2016) which tells the story of an honour killing. He also stated that he would love to write something in the sci-fi genre of which he's an immense fan.
 

Throughout his whole entire talk, Vinay Patel made me think about my own writing and the different ways in which I might write. "Pick things that are important to you," he said. I've always wanted to write a script or play and this made me even more inspired. It made me think about not writing about what I think other people may want to see, but instead starting from the issues and subjects that interest me.

Overall, this Cultural Exchanges event has a very powerful effect on me. It was a conversation not to be missed.

Tara N. Lawal

"Theatre is the purest form of expression"

Vinay Patel's appearance at the Cultural Exchanges festival yesterday seemed humble, in contrast to the festival brochure’s picture of him decked out in a polka shirt and blue suit. And that's just what he was, during the talk with Kathleen Bell (a lecturer at DMU): humble. 

Despite making a "meteoric rise" in his career through the BAFTA-nominated drama film Murdered By My Father (2016) he said, "I'm not confident enough in what I do to be more involved" when asked about the process of producing films from his scripts. 

However, he remained confident in his idea of what theatre is and what film is. 

"Writing for theatre is changing in terms of what you can do with it ... when writing for theatre, the main unit of meaning is in a line. But in film, it’s in the juxtaposition of two images." Despite his own comment that this statement was "wanky," I found it refreshingly introspective.

Coming from someone who claims that writing was "the only thing [he] could do" at school, I'd say Patel is certainly meteoric. 

“Theatre is the purest form of expression,” he said in response to one question from the audience. 

His one complaint about the theatre industry is that “it’s dominated by people with lots of money.” He suggested that if this wasn’t so, presentation of characters and topics addressed in plays would be more diverse, and in turn audiences would be more diverse. 

Interested in Vinay Patel’s next play? Coming this September is his ‘An Adventure.’

Book your tickets now for its run at London's Bush Theatre.t the Bush Theatre now!

G.E. Knight

G.E. Knight

Vinay Patel and his rise through writing

“Writing a script at home in your pants with your two cats is what success looks like!” - To all those aspiring writers out there…well you heard it here first.

 

De Montfort University was treated to a conversation by the very entertaining writer that is Vinay Patel. Vinay talked to Kathleen Bell and the audience about the ten years that led to his meteoric rise in screen and play-writing, as well as telling us briefly about his two beloved cats!

 

From a young age, Vinay wrote short stories, whilst watching Star Trek at the end of his father’s bed. This is where his love for writing began. 

 

Murdered by My Father was his big break, but if it wasn’t for his Agent seeing the potential, he would have turned it down. The television drama ended up being nominated for three BAFTAS, which was a surreal moment in his life - even if his Grandma thought he looked like a waiter!

Some advice that everyone took away with them was that the audience is an important factor when it comes to writing. Vinay stated himself with his witty humour - “If you don’t care about your audience, write a diary!”

 

Most of Vinay’s upcoming work is under wraps. However he did let us know that one of his current TV projects is in the crime and detective genre. This year’s plans also include going back into directing. 

 

If anyone is interested in seeing more of Vinay Patel’s inspiring work, then get down to London to watch his new play, An Adventure, which opens at The Bush Theatre in autumn 2018.

Lauren Irish