Last week, I went to see the show Frankie Goes to Bollywood at the Theatre Royal
Windsor. And what a night it was.
The show exploded with colour, music, and emotion. It had the kind of infectious energy that leaves an audience grinning long after the curtain falls. Packed with
dazzling choreography, lavish costumes, and larger-than-life characters, it was pure theatrical spectacle, while also exploring identity, ambition and belonging in a
surprisingly heartfelt way.
But what struck me most was not just what was happening on stage. It was where it came from.
The musical is produced by Rifco Theatre Company, one of the UK’s leading British Asian theatre companies and a proud partner in Slough’s UK Town of Culture bid. Pravesh Kumar the Artistic Director of the company, who also directed the feature
film Little English, grew up in Slough.
Before the performance began, Pravesh and his brother Andy gave a moving tribute to their mother, who they recently lost. Suddenly, this huge theatrical production became deeply personal. You could feel the love, the roots and the journey behind it all.
And then there was another unmistakably Slough moment.
Among the cast was an excellent performer from the Creative Academy, a leading dance school in Slough. A large group of young dancers from the Creative Academy had come to support the show, and they absolutely lifted the atmosphere. They were cheering, clapping, and reacting to every dance sequence, making the theatre feel electric. It was not passive theatregoing. It felt alive. Young dancers watching performers on stage and perhaps quietly imagining themselves there one day.
That matters more than people realise.
We talk constantly about regeneration, investment and growth. But talent is one of the greatest assets a town can possess. Slough has produced extraordinary
creatives, performers, filmmakers and entrepreneurs. Yet too often they have had to leave to find the spaces, support and infrastructure to grow.
That must change.
If we are serious about re-imagining Slough, then culture cannot simply be occasional events squeezed into borrowed venues. We need permanent creative
infrastructure. We need a proper theatre in Slough. A home for performance, music, drama, dance and storytelling. A place where local young people can see a pathway into the creative industries without feeling they must move elsewhere to succeed.
Because here is the truth: creative talent does not emerge from nowhere. It grows where there are stages to stand on, audiences to inspire them and spaces that tell people their creativity matters.
Watching Frankie Goes To Bollywood, I felt enormous pride. Pride that a company connected to Slough could create work of this scale and ambition. Pride that our
town continues to produce pioneers. But also, a sense of urgency.
We cannot keep exporting our talent. At some point, Slough must become the place
where great creatives stay.
