How you can join script readthrough for new play in Peterborough
Scenes from a new piece of theatre focusing on the life of Sophia Duleep Singh and her siblings will be shared for the first time at a special free event at Peterborough’s Key Theatre next week.
Landmark Theatres, which operates the Key and New theatres, is helping develop the new play by Hannah Kumari – Sophia Duleep Singh And Her Family. The free-reading can be enjoyed on September 19 at 5pm.
Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was the third daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh. She lived in an apartment in Hampton Court in London, given to her by her Godmother, Queen Victoria. Sophia was a militant campaigner for women’s rights, but it is only in recent years that her contribution to the Suffragette movement has been fully recognised.
Less well known is the fact that Princess Sophia spent her early life with her family at Elveden Hall near Thetford and later lived in the tiny village of Blo’ Norton in Norfolk.
Suffolk-based theatre producer Karen Goddard was awarded a grant from Arts Council England to fund the research and development of the new script. The project is supported by Eastern Angles Theatre Company, who have a permanent office in the city and are well- known to local Peterborough audiences.
“I am hugely grateful to Landmark Theatres in Peterborough for giving us the time and space to work together as team to create this new play,” said Karen.
“Hannah has done masses of research along with input from director Mandeep Kaur Glover, our four actors and Eastern Angles’ Artistic Director Jake Smith. I think it is so important to highlight and celebrate the Sikh heritage of Sophia and her family and give Peterborough audiences the chance to be the first to see and feedback on the play”.
The cast will include Rose-Marie Christian and Gurjot Dhaliwal. Both women have fond memories of working in Peterborough on the Eastern Angles production ‘Our White Skoda Octavia’ by Shamser Sinha.
This play, performed at The Key Theatre in 2021, was based on interviews with British Pakistani taxi-drivers living in Ipswich and Peterborough and used tabla drums and sound recordings from real taxi offices to create a sense of atmosphere.
To book free tickets for the script-sharing, go to www.keytheatre-peterborough.com