A year after Bad Indian first appeared at Deptford Scratch, Saaj Raja has returned to Deptford Lounge, this time on the other side of the table.
In 2025, Bad Indian was selected for Deptford Scratch, marking the show’s first mini London iteration. At the time, the piece existed as a short extract: an opportunity to put the work in front of an audience, test the material and begin discovering what the show could become. Since then, Bad Indian has developed into a full-length solo show, selling out performances across London and preparing to travel to Hong Kong this September.
Last week, Saaj joined creatives Gloria Akpoke and Brad Tutt for Deptford Scratch’s first A Seat at the Table: Global Majority Spotlight. Led by producer and Deptford Scratch founder Jessica Fowler, the group read and discussed new writing before helping to select the pieces that will be presented at the next Deptford Scratch.
For Saaj, returning to the place that gave Bad Indian one of its earliest London platforms felt particularly significant. Scratch nights can be an important first step for new work. They give artists the chance to experiment, hear their writing in a room and begin understanding how an idea might develop in front of an audience. For Bad Indian, Deptford Scratch was exactly that.
What began as a ten-minute sharing has since grown into an ambitious full-length production, with performances across London and its first international dates ahead. Returning to help select the next group of artists offered a fitting full-circle moment and a reminder that sometimes a much bigger journey can begin with just ten minutes in a room.
