Close Enough to Touch - 'messy, filthy, funny and heartfelt' - play on its way to Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre

Close Enough to Touch, a one-person drama about secrets, sex and toilets, written by new playwright Henry Roberts, visits Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre next month.

Close Enough to Touch follows a man who has a girlfriend, and many secrets.

In this gripping, intimate drama, audiences are taken into the world of cruising – anonymous sex in public places. The play swings between passion, humour and pathos as we watch a young man struggle to find pleasure, acceptance and, crucially, the language to express himself.

Playwright Henry Roberts, whose script was longlisted in the RSC 37 Plays Project, said: “I’m thrilled to be working with Red Ladder and Silent Uproar on Close Enough to Touch.

"I wrote the play because I wanted to explore the ambiguous sides of our desires – the kinds of desire that aren’t easy to categorise or label, that may be contradictory to who we feel we are as people.

“From day one the entire team has championed the play and supported me to make it the best it can be. I can't wait for people to see it.”

Red Ladder Theatre Company’s artistic director, Cheryl Martin, who is directing the play, said: “New writing is at the heart of what Red Ladder has been doing for nearly 60 years. That’s why we’re so excited to be working with a writer as gifted as Henry and a play as good as this.

“Henry is a brilliant new northern voice in the world of theatre and his powerful script tells the kind of story you don’t come across every day.

" As a director, I’m spoilt for choice with Close Enough to Touch because it offers so many possibilities – exploring them is going to be a real pleasure.”

Alex Mitchell, Silent Uproar’s artistic director, said: “Close Enough to Touch is messy, filthy, funny and heartfelt, a show about relationships, cruising and the shame we can feel when desire, particularly queer desire, doesn’t fit neatly into the life we’ve built for ourselves.

“It asks what happens when that shame, or our own cowardice, grows because we don’t have the words to say what we really want

“Henry’s play is humorous, challenging and painfully human. It’s exactly the kind of work Silent Uproar exists to champion.”

Yorkshire-born actor Stefan Race, who trained at ALRA – Academy of Live and Recorded Arts – will star in the show. Cheryl Martin says: “We were lucky enough to have several excellent actors to choose from, but Stefan was the standout, matching the character so closely – even at audition – it hardly seemed like acting.

“It was as if Stefan was the character and understood the script so well.”

Close Enough to Touch can be seen at the Stephen Joseph Theatre on Monday November 9 at 7.45pm.

Tickets are available from the box office on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com